Do You Really Love Me?
by Allura Arwen
Summary: Sequel to "Do You Love Me?" Still on hold. Chapter 12 is in progress. Thank you for your patience.
1. Waiting

**Do You _Really_ Love Me?**

Disclaimer: I do NOT own _Yu-Gi-Oh GX_ or the characters Caitlin and Lisa.

A/N: This was supposed to be a Christmas one-shot, but I now have the makings of a full length fic (or so we hope). I apologize to those of you who were looking for the Christmas one-shot. I'm still going to have my Christmas one-shot, but it's going to be a part of this story. With that said, happy reading!

**Chapter One – Waiting**

Alexis waited out in a clearing in the woods, sitting on a blanket that was spread on the ground with nice picnic lunch laid out before her that was meant for two. The pretty blonde wasn't eating; she was waiting on her boyfriend, Jaden Yuki. He was supposed to have been there a half a hour ago. She hoped he was going to get there soon. Could he be…? _He had better not be…! He knew we had a date today! He knew! _

Suddenly a bell rang in the distance signaling the end of the lunch period. Alexis packed up her stuff, and headed back to class with a mixture of sadness and anger radiating from her like heat from a furnace. _Jaden had better have a real good excuse…_

Elsewhere….

Jaden shouted it in triumph, "Yeah! And that's game!"

The brown-haired Slifer's opponent was a high ranking Ra Yellow student who smiled at Jaden as he clasped Jaden's hand as he stated that their duel had been a good duel. As the Ra Yellow student departed, Syrus and Chumley, Jaden's friends and roommates, congratulated their friend.

Suddenly the bell rang signaling the end of the lunch period. Chumley started to complain that they hadn't even had a chance to get any lunch. Jaden's eyes got real wide at the mention of lunch. "What's wrong, Jay," asked Syrus.

"Oh, no….! Alexis is going to be so ticked off!"

"What are you talking about?"

"Alexis and I were supposed to have a lunch date today!"

Syrus thought for a moment, "Well, all you can do is apologize. You didn't realize the duel was going to take that long."

Chumley nodded, "Yeah, you can tell her that and you won't be lying."

Jaden thought about it and realized that there was nothing he could do, but do as his friends suggested. They were right. He hadn't realized that the duel was going to take that long. Alexis would forgive him, wouldn't she?

In class….

After everyone had made it to their seats Professor Banner stood before the class with two teenage girls standing patiently beside him. The raven-haired professor cleared his throat as he addressed his students, "Everyone, we have two new students I would like you to meet: Lisa Woodley and Caitlin Enelya. They just arrived a few hours ago, and they are going to stay in the Slifer Red dorm until they test to see if they will proceed to the next level."

Syrus Truesdale's heart skipped a beat as he silently stared at the lovely dark blonde girl. He took every feature that he could see from the distance he was at. Her hair fell just below her tanned shoulders. Her uniform he saw was like Alexis's except it was red and white. _Wow, she's gorgeous! She's more beautiful than Dark Magician Girl!_

Jaden was hardly paying any attention. His gaze shifting over to the Obelisk Blue section in search of Alexis, but Jaden noticed something in the Ra Yellow section that made him do a double take.

Bastian Misawa, another good friend and rival of Jaden's, was staring at one of the girls down front with his mouth hanging wide open! _Hm… Bastian's got a crush!_ Jaden wadded up a piece of scratch paper and threw it at Bastian, hitting the Ra Yellow student upside his head. He snapped his attention towards the culprit who threw the paper ball. When he realized it was his brown-haired Slifer friend, he nodded his thanks. After Jaden turned his attention to the front once again, Bastian checked to make sure he hadn't drooled on himself, the desk, or anything else for that matter.

_That was embarrassing! Hopefully no one but Jaden saw that._

The Ra Yellow student glanced around at his classmates. No one else had seemed to notice. Once Bastian was satisfied that no one had seen his improper behavior, he turned his attention back to the new girl he had been staring at, Lisa.

The two girls were now seated, but Bastian could see the back of Lisa's short gold hair. He had not been able to see her very well, but he could see that she too was wearing a uniform identical to the one Caitlin was wearing. The Ra Yellow student observed that Lisa's skin was pale compared to the dark blonde-headed girl, but she did not look ill or anything of that nature. _Well, Miss Woodley, I'll have to make your acquaintance after class, as in immediately after class!_

A/N: A special thank you to my editor, Raymanly73! Thank you so much for all your help. I feel that "thank you" doesn't cut it, but yet that's all I know of to say. Thank you too, Lisa! Thanks to you and Raymanly73, I have ideas for future chapters! To my readers, I hope you enjoyed this. Hopefully there will be more to add soon. Until then, God bless!


	2. The New Girls

**Do You Really Love Me?**

Disclaimer: I don't own _Yu-Gi-Oh GX_ or the characters Caitlin and Lisa. I _am_ using them with permission from their owners.

A/N: Thank you, my reviewers for your reviews. I received a few reviews about the OCs being Mary Sues. Honestly I had not thought of them as Mary Sues, but okay… I realize not everyone likes Mary Sues and that is understandable and is to be expected. Rest assured though, these OCs are not going to be damsels in distress, but they're not going to be invincible either. I hope that despite whether you think of the girls as Mary Sues or not, you'll still enjoy the story. Happy reading everyone!

**Chapter 2**

Lisa and Caitlin walked out of the classroom among the masses of students. Caitlin blushed as she tugged at the skirt of her uniform. With a frustrated sigh and an extra rosy face she commented to her best friend, "Oh, they had to make the skirts _this_ short! You'd think that they wanted us to be more modest since we're supposed to be concerned with learning the art of dueling!"

Lisa smiled at her friend's comment, "Maybe we can ask for modesty shorts to wear underneath or something."

"I hope so."

Just as Caitlin spoke, a guy from the Slifer dorm whistled at her when she wasn't tugging on her skirt. The dark blonde-headed girl's face turned an even deeper shade of red. Lisa turned and gave the guy a look of disapproval and luckily he got the message and went on his way.

As the girls were about to head back to the dorm a tall dark-headed boy wearing a yellow and white uniform and a shorter boy blocked the two Slifers' path. The tall boy wore a mocking sneer on his face as he addressed the new girls, "You two Slifers are pretty. I hope your dueling skills match your lovely faces."

Caitlin's eyes narrowed in anger as she growled at the two of them while making a fist and prepared to attack, "Oh, if dueling skills are based on looks …!"

The golden haired Slifer grabbed Caitlin by the arm as she tried to hold her back as she exclaimed, "Caitlin, don't even think about it! Do you want to get expelled on our first day here?"

"Hey! Didn't your mother ever tell you guys that it's not nice to bully ladies?"

The two bullies, Caitlin, and Lisa turned to see three Slifer red guys giving the two mean Ra Yellow students a look of disapproval. The one who had verbally defended the girls had brown hair. Beside him stood two other boys, one of them had a tuft of hair on either side of his hair and really big round nose. The other, the shortest of the trio, had blue hair. The shorter bully turned his attention to the brown-haired Slifer, "Butt out, Jaden! We weren't talking to you!"

"Regardless of whether you were talking to him or not, Jaden does have a point," said a smooth voice with a slight British accent.

Everyone turned toward the owner of the nice voice. In Lisa's eyes the owner of the voice looked just as good as he sounded! He was a Ra Yellow student so he wore a yellow and white uniform like the ones the bullies were wearing. As he approached Lisa and Caitlin, the golden-haired girl could see his handsome features a lot better. His hair was dark in color, and he had a very handsome face with a well defined square jaw. Out of all the guys present he was the tallest. Lisa felt her face turn red as her heart beat quickened. He smiled a dashing smile as he addressed Caitlin and Lisa, "I'm sorry if my Ra classmates rubbed you the wrong way, ladies."

Lisa's face turned an even brighter shade of red, "Oh, that's …okay."

Caitlin glared at the bullies, "Um, Lisa, no it's not. They were being pretty shallow."

The taller bully snorted, "Just telling it like it is!"

The polite Ra Yellow student turned to his classmates with a clear look of disapproval in his eyes, "Don't you two have anything better to do?"

The shorter bully arrogantly smiled, "Yeah, I suppose we do. Come on. Let's not waste our time hanging around a bunch of Slifer slackers!"

After the two bullies left, the dark-headed Ra Yellow student turned back to the two Slifer red girls, "Not all of the Ra Yellow students are like that, so please forgive them."

Lisa nodded nervously.

"I'm Bastian Misawa by the way."

"I… I'm Lisa Woodley."

Bastian smiled as he took her hand into his and gently kissed the back of it. When he released her hand he turned toward the three Slifer red boys approaching them. "Allow me to introduce you to three of your fellow Slifer red classmates. The one who you stood up for you is Jaden Yuki," Bastian said as gestured toward the brown haired Slifer. The Ra Yellow student went down the line as he introduced the boy with the round nose as Chumley Huffington, and the blue-haired Slifer as Syrus Truesdale.

Caitlin stared at the shortest member of the trio for moment and admired the bluish gray eyes she saw through the lens of his glasses. _He's too cute!_ She noticed him blush when he realized her eyes were on him. Since he didn't say anything, the dark-blonde Slifer moved forward to extend her hand nervously so that he could shake hands with her. "Hi, I'm Caitlin Enelya. This is my best friend Lisa Woodley."

Syrus blushed an even deeper shade of red as smiled and took her hand in his and shook it. "It's nice to meet you."

The blue-haired Slifer silently rejoiced over the fact that he didn't stutter.

After the small group of students stood there talking for a few minutes Chumley complained that he was hungry. Bastian then suggested that they go to get a few snacks to tide them over until dinner.

"Hey, I'll catch up with you guys later, okay? I've got something I have to take care of," Jaden said as he politely excused himself and went in search of a certain blonde Obelisk blue student who he was sure wasn't happy with him at the moment.

Jaden hadn't seen Alexis all afternoon, but he did have an idea of where to find her. Jaden kept both eyes and ears open to make sure that Dr. Crowler wasn't following him. As the brown-haired Slifer neared the abandoned dorm, he caught sight of a familiar blonde kneeling down in front of the locked gate with a rose lying on the ground in front of her.

Alexis had heard Jaden coming, but she kept her eyes closed and head bowed. She wasn't praying, but she really didn't want to talk to Jaden at that moment. _I should have gone back to the dorm._

Her beloved boyfriend had found her. He always found her. When ever he knew there was something bothering her, she had always come here.

For several minutes Alexis didn't hear Jaden coming any closer, but she knew he wasn't gone. No, the pretty blonde could feel his eyes on her. She frowned with her eyes still closed. _I wonder who's going to have to go first._

"Alexis, I'm sorry for missing our lunch, date."

"Jaden, …"

"Lex, please, just hear me out," Jaden quickly said hoping that she would allow him to do as he asked.

When she didn't say anything, he continued, "I was dueling a guy earlier and I honestly didn't think that it would take that long to duel him."

"Who did you duel, Enrique from Ra Yellow?"

"Yes."

"Did you win?"

Where was she going with this? Her voice, usually warm and sweet, was cold with bitterness. He knew this couldn't be good. Jaden swallowed hard as he answered, "Yes."

"Good."

_This is not good! I'm in so much trouble!_

"Jaden, we need to talk. The fact that you were dueling someone is not what has made me upset. It's the fact that you just didn't say, 'No, I have somewhere to be,' and just post-pone the duel to a later time when you knew you weren't going to date. It just seems that dueling is more important than anything else."

Jaden felt one of his heart-strings snap. How could she say that? "Alexis, you know I care about you more than anything else in the world!"

The Queen of Obelisk Blue opened her eyes and looked up at Jaden with eyes that broke his heart, eyes filled with anger and anguish. "Do I really, Jaden? Then why am I sitting here with doubts plaguing every single one of my thoughts? This isn't the time you've done this. Ever since before we started going out, you've always seemed to care more about dueling."

Alexis rose from her place on the ground and turned to leave, but before she did turned back towards Jaden to look him the eye. "Maybe it would be best if we didn't see each other for a while."

"What? Tell me you're kidding, Alexis?"

Alexis narrowed her gaze at him. It was then and there he knew she was drop-dead serious.

A/N:This fic is not just going to be about Jaden and Alexis breaking up, etc. This is going to be a long story (or long for me at least) with lot more as far as plot going on than you can imagine right now.There will be heartaches (not just romantic ones), as well as adventure, and big duel (eventually). Please bear with me. It will take me a lot longer to finish this fic than it did my other GX fic (I'm a full-time student). The work load I've got is going to take away from my writing time, so yeah, I won't be able to update as often. I will write when I can. Until the next update, take care, everyone! God bless!


	3. Breakup Heartbreak

Do You Really Love Me?

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh GX. I don't own Caitlin or Lisa either, but I am using them with permission.

A/N: Hey, everyone! Thank you so much for your encouraging reviews and suggestions! I'm glad you're enjoying this. A lot of you are sad about Jaden and Alexis, but don't worry. It all ties into the story. I don't want to give away too much, but there will be a special part in the story that will make up for Jaden's and Alexis's heart-breaking moment in chapter 2. I thought I was going to cry while writing it. I came close to crying just thinking of that part. I leave you now with the knowledge that happier times for Jaden and Alexis will come eventually. Happy reading and God bless everyone!

**Chapter 3**

_Maybe it would be best if we didn't see each other for a while…_

After Alexis had left, Jaden slumped onto the ground as he felt his heart break over his ex-girlfriend's words. He had tried to convince her that wasn't a good idea, but in the end she won the argument.

"_I'll… strive to not miss anymore of our dates!"_

"_That's what you said last time, Jaden, and after today, you still expect me to believe that?"_

As Jaden recalled the last words of their conversation, the usually cheerful duelist felt his last heart string snap in two.

The sun began to sink below the horizon changing the sky into one of God's greatest masterpieces, but at that moment Jaden didn't notice. For Jaden the sun may have really been shining in sky outside, but on the inside it was pouring down rain with no chance of it letting up any time soon.

Back at the Slifer Red boys' dorm…

Syrus and Chumley were getting ready for bed as they talked about the day's events, especially their meeting Caitlin and Lisa. Both agreed that both girls were very nice. Syrus sighed with smile on his face, "Caitlin is so cute! No! She's beautiful!"

Chumley snorted with a sly grin on his face, "Not as beautiful as Professor Banner's teaching assistant!"

The shorter boy raised an eyebrow at this, "Don't you think that she's a little old for you, Chumley?"

"Duh, of course I think that she's too old for me! That doesn't mean that I can't say that I think she's good-looking."

"Well, yeah, that _is_ true."

The blue-haired boy gazed out the window and noticed that it was now pitch black outside. _I hope Jaden and Alexis are okay. Jay doesn't usually stay out this long with her, especially this late at night._

A few moments passed before the door to their room opened quietly. Jaden with downcast eyes came in and slumped down into his chair at his desk. At first neither Syrus nor Chumley noticed their friend. When they did both did a double take. Syrus, however, was the first one of the two to speak. "We didn't even hear you come in, Jay! How did your talk with Alexis go?"

For several minutes Jaden didn't answer. Chumley and Syrus exchanged look of concern for their friend. Chumely made his attempt to get Jaden to answer, "Uh, Jaden, is everything alright?"

The brown-haired Slifer remained silent. Syrus moved from his bed over to his best friend's side, while Chumely sat up on his bunk. When the blue-haired boy reached Jaden's side, he saw that the taller boy was gazing at his cards with what looked like a look of regret and sadness on his face. _This does not look good_.

The brown-haired youth answered as though he had read Syrus's mind, "It's not good, Sy. Things between me and Alexis, that is."

"What happened?"

Jaden turned to face his friends with eyes that revealed a completely broken heart, "It's over, Sy. She said, 'Maybe it would be best if we didn't see each other for a while.'"

The shorter boy's jaw dropped open in shock, "You're kidding!"

"I wish I was."

Chumley frowned, "But it was an honest mistake! You told her that right?"

"I did. She said that she didn't have a problem with me dueling, but she did have a problem with me not at least postponing a duel to a later time when I know we don't have a date."

Syrus thought about this for a moment. As much as he hated to admit it, Alexis did have a point. Jaden continued, breaking the blue-haired boy's thoughts, "She said that it seems like I care more about dueling than her."

Chumley stared at Jaden wide-eyed, "But that's not true! I can see why she would say that, but it's not true at all!"

Jaden sighed, "Thanks, Chumley. I feel a thousand times better."

"I'm sorry, Jaden. You know I didn't mean it that way."

All three of them were silent for several minutes. Syrus broke the stillness, "So what are you going to do, Jay?"

The brown-haired Slifer had once again turned his attention to his cards as he replied sadly, "I don't know. All I know of to do is to either find a way to prove that I love Alexis more than dueling, or… to quit dueling forever."

Syrus and Chumley both forgot to breathe for several minutes. The black-haired Slifer stated after he had remembered to breathe, "Jaden, if you quit dueling, then you'll have to leave Duel Academy."

"Then you'll never see Alexis again," Syrus said finishing his roommates statement.

"If giving up Duel Monsters is what it takes to prove to her that I love her, then that's what I'll do."

A/N: Emmanuel Jones, Agent of the Divine One, Lisa, Raymanly73, and Mr. Evil, thank you very much for your ideas and suggestions. Thank you, Raymanly73 and Lisa, for the reading the chapters over. If I have missed anyone, then please forgive me, and thank you for your ideas and suggestions. I think I've got everyone that did give suggestions, but then again I'm brain-dead at the moment and on top of that I've got a memory span of like 10 seconds. Until next update peace out and God bless!


	4. Advice, Please!

Do You Really Love Me?

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh GX. I also do not own the characters Caitlin and Lisa, but I am using them with permission.

A/N: The next few chapters will be a bit better for those of you who like me hate Jaden and Alexis being apart. I'm glad to be past the break up! I think the next few chapters will be much better than the previous two. There will even be a little bit humor! . Won't be much, but at least it will be enough to at least get us all to smile hopefully after all the heartache. Enjoy!

**Chapter 4 – Advice, Please!**

Caitlin, Lisa, Syrus, and Chumley made their way to Professor Banner's office to introduce them to Rachel McGregor, Professor Banner's teaching assistant and the head of the girls' wing at the Slifer Red dorm. They were at least thirty minutes early for class, so the foursome didn't have to fight their way through a huge crowd of their classmates. Sure enough, when they reached the good professor's office, they found the red-headed lady herself talking on the phone.

She motioned for them to come in and wait for her to finish the phone conversation. Who the young woman was talking to, they could only guess. They didn't have whole lot of time to contemplate who it might have been, however. After a minute or two she ended the phone conversation and hung up. With warm green eyes she turned to the students and greeted them, "Good morning! What can I do for you? Chumley, are you still having problems with your paper?"

Chumley shook his head, "No, Miss McGregor. Actually, Syrus and I just wanted to introduce you to your two new students, Caitlin and Lisa."

Rachel smiled as she came forward to shake hands with the two girls, "Girls, I have just one rule regarding the 'Miss McGregor.' One that Chumley, Syrus, and all the other students know well. During class or whenever another teacher or Chancellor Shepherd is around, call me 'Miss McGregor,' but at any other time, feel free to call me 'Rachel.'"

Lisa and Caitlin returned the TA's smile as the red-head continued, "If you need anything, my room is at the other end of the dormitory on the same floor as Professor Banner's."

Both girls nodded their thanks, but Caitlin spoke up after hearing the TA's willingness to help, "Actually there is something we wanted to ask you about regarding the length of our uniform skirts."

Lisa nodded, "We'd wanted to know if we could get modesty shorts to wear underneath."

The raven-haired Slifer cocked his head to the side as he looked the girls over, "I don't see anything wrong with the …"

Both girls plus Syrus narrowed their eyes at Chumley. "What?"

Then his three friends sighed at his ignorance while Rachel stifled a laugh. The TA turned to the girls, "Come this way, ladies. Let's see what we can do."

After the women had left, Sy turned to Chumley, "Did you say that to…?"

"I really don't see what the problem is. Alexis wears hers just as short and you don't hear her complaining."

The blue-haired Slifer shook his head.

A few minutes later Jaden walked in Professor Banner's office, much to Syrus's and Chumley's delight. The two had been afraid that the melancholy Slifer wasn't even bother going to class that day. Syrus with a questioning look on his face asked his best friend, "How are you this morning, Jay?"

If the brown-haired Slifer's appearance was any indication of how he was doing, then he wasn't good. The poor boy looked like he didn't get a wink of sleep last night. His eyes still exposed the broken heart that he carried deep inside. He didn't answer the shorter boy's question, but he did ask, "Where's Professor Banner?"

A female voice all too familiar to Jaden and his buddies answered him, "He's not here, Jaden. He had to catch a plane to Tokyo early this morning to take care of some business there on Chancellor Shepherd's behalf. Is there something I can do for you?"

Jaden turned to face the owner of the voice, Miss McGregor, as he thoughtfully responded, "I don't know. I needed some advice."

Rachel thought for a moment, "Well, if you want I can go get Dr. Crowler…"

"No! That's okay! I'll talk to you!"

The red head smiled, "Alright, Jaden. Sit down and we'll talk."

Chumley and Syrus took that as their cue to leave.

Once the two had gone, Rachel asked, "What do you need help with?"

Jaden was silent for a minute, and the TA took note of his exhausted appearance and took the opportunity to pour a cup of coffee. The brown-haired boy looked up when she offered him the steamy black beverage. "Thanks, Miss McGregor. I wanted to ask Professor Banner's advice on what to do when a girl breaks up with guy because she thinks that Duel Monsters is more important than her."

Rachel eyes shown with compassion as she nodded, "What happened to make her think this?"

"He …missed a lot of their dates because so many people challenged him to duel. She says that she doesn't have a problem with him dueling, but rather the fact that he didn't tell the challengers that he had somewhere to be and post-pone the duel to a later time."

The TA nodded knowingly as she answered gently, "She feels neglected."

Jaden winced, "I hadn't thought about that. I thought that telling her that I love her would… And I didn't mean to miss our…"

Rachel reached out and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, "Jaden, she needs to hear that you love her in your actions, not just your words. You said that you didn't mean to miss your dates. Did you miss them all because someone challenged you to a duel?"

Her student nodded, "The last one took longer than I thought it would, and I missed our lunch date."

The redhead had not heard the whole story, and she was waiting for the boy to finish when he surprised her by stating, "It seems that the only way I can prove to her that I love her more than dueling is by giving up dueling forever."

"Jaden, that's a pretty drastic move. I'm sure Alexis wants to know whether or not your top priority is dueling or her, but this isn't the answer."

The young man's brown eyes reflected his desperation to know what the best solution to his problem was as he looked up into Rachel's gentle green eyes as she continued, "There is no quick fix to your problem, Jaden. All you can do is start by rebuilding the trust that you lost."

Jaden sighed, "I had planned on singing her a song, one that Alexis and I both know."

Rachel shook her head as she smiled, "I like your style, Jaden, but I don't think that's what Alexis needs at the moment. You can try, but you probably need to talk it out before you break into song."

The brown-haired boy looked back up at the TA, "You really think that Alexis would be upset if I quit dueling?"

"Yes, I do. Talk to her about it, Jaden. She has a lot of hopes and dreams herself. Would you want her to give up her dreams because of you?"

"No."

The bell signaling the beginning of class rang as Rachel reached over to the desk and grabbed the role and her notes for the lecture. "If you want we can talk more later, but for right now what do you say we go to class?"

Jaden's expression was a look of wince and smile with a little bit of the old sparkle that had been in his eyes before he and Alexis broke up. Rachel laughed, "Okay, not the best remedy for a broken heart I know, but it's also not good to wallow in self-pity. That will only make it worse."

The student nodded, knowing that as much as he didn't want to go to class, Rachel was right. With that the twosome headed to the classroom to begin the day.

After class had started…

Syrus looked over at Jaden who was intensely focused on writing something down while Rachel was lecturing. Surely he wasn't taking notes! If he was then Syrus was going to insist that Jaden go to the nurse's office after class!

The blue-haired Slifer couldn't help but wonder what Alexis was going through. _Alexis must be really ticked. I hope she forgives Jaden and they get back together. I've never seen Jaden like this before! Come to think of it, I don't think Alexis has seen him like this either. Or at least I don't think she has._

Syrus felt Caitlin, who was sitting next to him, slip something in his blazer pocket. He dug in his pocket until he found a piece of paper folded up. The blue-haired boy pulled it out and unfolded it found that it was a note that read,

"Syrus,

I know you and Chumley are both worried about Jaden. Lisa and I want to help Jaden get back together with Alexis. We feel like we owe him that much for standing up for us. I think after Jaden's talk with Rachel, Jay will be fine. For right now though the dude just needs to get some more sleep! We'll talk while Jaden goes to talk with Alexis. Okay?

- Caitlin"

Syrus looked over at Caitlin who smiled warmly at him as he nodded in response to her message. Lisa, Caitlin, Chumley, and himself had listened to most of Jaden and Rachel's conversation earlier, or at least up to the part where they heard Rachel suggest that Jaden go to class. Sy smiled at the thought of how the four of them were becoming such fast friends.

Over on the other side of the room Alexis smiled as she watched Syrus and Caitlin bond. _They would make such a cute couple!_

Alexis felt Mindy tap her on the shoulder as the brown-haired Obelisk handed her a note. The pretty blonde Obelisk had a hunch who it was from. When she opened it and started reading, her hunch was confirmed. Jaden had written her a simple message saying that he needed to talk to her during lunch. She sighed as she fought the urge to look his way. What could he possibly have to say? He's already apologized. But …

Alexis felt her guilt of trying to ignore him eat away at her. Finally, she caved and looked over in his direction to his pleading milk chocolate brown eyes staring directly at her. The ones that made her heart melt every time they gazed into hers. She sighed and nodded in his direction. Jaden smiled at her with eyes that shone with joy that she had agreed to talk with him. The blonde beauty then directed her gaze once again to the front of the classroom. She wasn't paying attention to Rachel's lecture, but she decided to at least make it look like she was. Her mind went down the list of all the possible things Jaden could possibly have to say to her, thinking that all he was going to do was beg her to get back with him. If she had the ability to read her ex-boyfriend's mind she would have been surprised at incorrect she was.

Later during lunch…

Jaden had asked Alexis to meet him outside the gate of the abandoned dorm. When the Queen of Obelisk Blue arrived she found her handsome ex-beau waiting for her. He even had a little surprise for her: a small picnic lunch that consisted of sandwiches, potato chips, and tea. The Slifer met her gaze as he stated, "I figured that this may take awhile so I put together at least a small lunch… I know it's not much, but…"

"I'm glad you thought of it, Jaden," Alexis told him sincerely.

Jaden motioned for her to have a seat. As the blonde did as he bid her, she held his gaze with eyes with a look that he couldn't quite interpret. It was a mixture of hope, sadness, anger, and other emotions that made it difficult to tell what she was thinking. The poor boy's heart was pounding with nervousness and excitement. For few minutes Jaden searched for the right words to say. A few more minutes passed in silence while he wrestled with his thoughts before Alexis broke his train of thought, "Jaden, if you're going to ask me to get back with you then you've wasted your time. Yes, the lunch is nice, but I …"

"That's not it, Alexis. I mean, yes, I do want you back, but …"

"But what," the beautiful blonde asked.

Jaden took a deep breath as he chose his words carefully, "You basically won't come back to me until I've proved that you're my top priority, right?"

Alexis nodded.

"At first the only way I thought I could do that was to give up dueling forever, but then someone told me that you wouldn't want that."

Alexis's mouth dropped open upon hearing Jaden's words, "Whoever told that was right! Jaden, I don't want you to give up your dreams!"

Jaden smiled as he dared to look directly at her. Her eyes reflected the disbelief and shock he had heard in her voice. "Don't worry, 'Lex. I'm not going to give up dueling, but I'm not going to give up on proving to you that I love you more than Duel Monsters either."

"How are you going to do that, Jaden?"

The Slifer's brown eyes were aglow with warmth, love, and even a hint of playfulness as he answered, "I'm going to rebuild your trust just one day at a time, Alexis."

The pretty blonde couldn't believe what she was hearing. "I thought that you were going to ask me to get back with you."

"I had originally thought of singing you song that had a message that had deal with that topic."

"Aw! How sweet, Jaden," Alexis said turning to smile at her ex-beau. It was a small smile, but a smile nonetheless.

His heart leapt with joy at seeing her smile. "What changed your mind?"

Jaden sighed, "The lyrics weren't quite appropriate."

"What makes you say that?"

"Well, there's one part that said, 'if I had two dozen roses and an old bottle of wine…'"

Alexis then realized why the song was inappropriate. Jaden smiled, "Do you want me to sing it?"

"No, that's okay."

For a moment there was silence. Finally Alexis asked, "So where do we go from here?"

"I say we eat, and then put this whole breakup behind us. We can be just friends if you want, Alexis, or we can get back together after I've proved how much you mean to me. I would love to get back with you right here and now to be honest. But I'd rather we do this on your terms. I want you to be sure of my love."

The Obelisk Blue carefully considered his words. _It's good that he's being honest with me._ _Really no matter what we decide, he is right. My trust in him is going to have to be rebuilt._

Alexis turned to face Jaden as she answered him, "I suggest we do this: we date as friends."

"Until I prove that you're worth more to me than dueling?"

"Yes."

Jaden smile grew wider, "Alright!"

Alexis's eyes shown with contentment as motioned toward the untouched meal, "Um, shouldn't we eat before lunch is over?"

"Oh, right!"

For the rest of the lunch period the two ate and enjoyed each other's company.

Elsewhere…

Syrus, Caitlin, Lisa, and Chumley sat outside the cafeteria talking and plotting. They were brainstorming on how to get a certain blonde Obelisk blue and a Slifer red back together, but so far they had nothing. "Aw, man! How are we supposed to help them get back together if we can't come up with a plan?" Syrus groaned in frustration as he paced back and forth.

Caitlin watched him pace as her own frustration level was rising. Her frustration, however, was due to Sy's pacing. Chumley and Lisa weren't paying attention to Syrus's pacing. They were lost in thought trying to think of ideas to contribute to the group discussion as a whole. Chumley finally broke the silence, "Maybe a candlelit dinner with grilled cheese sandwiches as the main course…"

"No!" his three companions exclaimed.

The blacked haired boy sighed as he went back to his mental drawing board. Syrus continued pacing much to Caitlin's dismay. Finally, when decided she had had enough, she waited for him to walk directly in front of her, and then she grabbed him by the wrist. The blue-haired boy blushed when he realized who had stopped him. The dark blonde girl pointed to the seat on the ground next to her as she firmly commanded, "Sit down. You're making me nervous!"

Syrus did as he was told while his face turned an even deeper shade of red as he realized how close he was to Caitlin. He didn't dare look to see if she noticed.

Lisa smiled as she noticed the exchange between the two, but she forced herself back into plotting mode. While everyone was still brainstorming, a certain Ra Yellow came up behind the golden haired Slifer. None of the four Slifers realized he was there until his smooth British accent broke their train of thought, "If you are worried that Jaden and Alexis are not going to get back together then I've got a bit of news that might save you some time."

All four Slifers looked up to see none other than Bastian Misawa smiling a bright smile that made Lisa's heart began to race. The golden haired Slifer of course had to look directly up to see him. She silently hoped that he wouldn't notice her sitting position. When the dark-haired Ra Yellow saw four pairs of eyes on him, continued, "I just came back from a stroll in the woods and I saw Jaden and Alexis together having lunch together. They actually seemed to be having a good time."

Syrus's gray eyes lit up as jumped from his seat, "Yes!"

Caitlin smiled, "I'm so glad!"

Chumley beamed from ear to ear, "Really? So does this mean their back together?"

Bastian laughed softly, "No, I'm afraid that isn't the case. I didn't over-hear much of their conversation, but I heard enough to know that Jaden is going to work on rebuilding Alexis's trust. If you wish to know more than you're going to have to wait for one of them to tell you."

The blue-haired Slifer's eyes grew wide in disbelief, "You're going to tell us everything?"

Bastian's eyes shone with the laughter he was holding back, "Syrus, in truth that is all I know. That's why I won't tell you anything else."

Chumley groaned, "What kind of spy are you, Bastian?"

"Spying is such a strong word," the Ra Yellow said, pretending to be offended.

Lisa blushed as she gazed at the boy who towered over completely oblivious to anyone or anything else other than Bastian.

A few minutes later the bell signaling the end of lunch sounded. Bastian looked down directly at Lisa and smiled warmly at her as he offered her hand to help her get up. Once she was off the ground she smiled her thanks.

Syrus groaned, "Oh, well, back to class."

Caitlin patted him on the shoulder, "It's going to be alright, Sy. You'll make through the day."

Chumley snorted, "Well, come on you guys! Let's get to class. Me personally, I don't want Dr. Crowler to give us detention for being late."

With that the five friends headed back to the classroom for their not-so-favorite class of the day.

A/N: Just so ya'll know, this is the longest chapter I've ever written that I'm currently aware of. So you get this long chapter for being so patient! I kept on thinking that I should have ended the chapter sooner, but once I reached the five page mark, I decided I was going to try to make the seven page mark. It turned out to be eight pages instead of seven! Again thank you to those who gave me ideas. Emmanuel, I know you said to email you, but it won't let me send you anything to the email address provided. So, yeah, I'm not ignoring you or anything, it's just that my email won't let me send you anything at that address. Thank you, Raymanly73! You're such an awesome editor! - If I've left anyone out in thanking you for ideas or help in anyway, then please forgive me, and thank you. Until next update, peace out and God bless!


	5. So Much Is Happening

Do You Really Love Me?

Disclaimer: I do NOT own _Yu-Gi-Oh GX_. I also do not own Caitlin and Lisa, but I am using them with permission.

A/N: Thank you everyone who sent in ideas and helped me with finding info for the chapter. This is the chapter where it starts to get interesting. Happy reading, everyone!

Chapter 5 – So Much Happening

At the end of the school day, Alexis and Jaden parted on good terms. As the pretty blonde made her way back to the Obelisk blue girls' dorm she wore a content smile on her face. She wasn't a hundred percent sure why, but she was in a good mood. True the fact that Jaden had come to her asking to settle their dispute on her terms was part of it, but there was something else to, something that she couldn't quite put her finger on. She had a few twinges of doubt on whether or not Jaden was going to deliver in his part of the bargain, but fought to push those doubts from her mind and give her ex the benefit of the doubt for the moment. _I hope you do prove that you love me more than dueling, Jaden._

"Hey, Alexis, wait up!" a male voice called out behind her.

When the queen of Obelisk Blue saw who had called her name all she could was smile a weak smile, "Hi, Harrington. What's up?"

The handsome captain of the tennis team flashed her a pearly white grin, "I just heard that you and that Slifer slacker broke up."

"Yeah, we did."

"Did you finally get tired of hanging around the loser?"

Alexis raised an eyebrow at his question, "No. Not to be rude or anything, Harrington, but really it's none of your business why we broke up."

"Well, regardless what your reason was, just know that if you want to go out with a real man, just say the word and I'm all yours."

Alexis felt like she was going to be sick. Whether Harrington saw her disgust for his behavior written on her face or not, she couldn't tell. She fought violently with her emotions as she nodded politely, "Thank you. I'll keep that in mind."

The queen of Obelisk Blue then turned on her heel, and hurried off in the direction of her dorm. _Oh, the nerve of that guy! He's so full of himself that it's sickening! Sorry, Harrington, but I have no interest in being your girlfriend, much less going out with you._

Harrington watched Alexis hurry off with a smirk on his face. Once she was out of sight, he turned and headed off towards the woods. He carefully dodged tree branches as he walked through the forest. It seemed like it had been hours since he started his hike before the over-confident Obelisk reached his destination, which turned out to be the abandoned dorm.

Once he made it inside, Harrington headed straight for the top floor where there was only one room. When he reached the closed door, he prepared to knock, but before he was able to do so the door slowly creaked open. A voice that sounded like it belonged to an ancient whispering wind bid the young man to enter.

Harrington looked around and found the room the same as it had been the last time he had come. The room was simply furnished with a bed, desk with a chair, and bookcase. This made the room look like an ordinary room until one beheld the fire place. The mantle was simple enough, made completely out of oak which matched the other furniture. Inside the cold hearth was an old hook that had once been used to hang pots over the fire place to cook food and such. Of course the brown-haired Obelisk found an old cauldron hanging over the ashes. "So, Harrington, you've thought about my offer?" asked the mysterious voice.

The young man smiled slyly, "Yeah, I have. I'll gladly take you up on it, dude!"

The voice came again, but this time it distinctly came from an urn that sat on top of the mantle. "Excellent! Go to the desk and look in the top drawer and you'll find all you need to accomplish what I ask of you."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah! Just remember when you get your freedom, I get Alexis!"

"When I am free you'll get your reward. I promise you that! I'll claim what is rightfully mine and no one will be able to stop me from bringing back the Shadow Games. The old ways will be restored. The best part is that the pharaoh won't be able to stop me."

Elsewhere in Tokyo…

Professor Banner sat in his hotel room sipping a cup of tea while the stars were starting to wake up and shine silently in the sky as it started to turn darker and darker. The good professor smiled as he admired their beauty, thinking of how much Rachel would have enjoyed sitting there with him. _I wish you could be here with me so we could have gazed at the stars together._

Suddenly a feeling of dread overcame him telling the young professor that something was wrong, terribly wrong. Something he couldn't explain or put his finger on. He went to the window and turned his gaze southward, towards the island he had left earlier that day, towards Duel Academy.

The next day at Duel Academy…

Lisa woke up a few hours before the sun rose. She tried to go back to sleep but sleep refused to come. Finally she gave up and got out of bed. In flash she was dressed in a pair of red sweat pants and white sweat shirt. When she stepped outside the cool morning air caressed her face as she savored its touch.

A few minutes later cool air was whipping past her as jogged down the trail that led off into the woods. As she sped up the wind began to whistle a sweet melody that Lisa loved to hear when did her morning run. What she loved even more than this was her heart beat picking up the tempo as it played along. When she finally did get tired she slowed down and decided to rest for a moment. The golden-haired girl's forehead was damp with perspiration and for this reason she made a mental note to get back soon and take a quick shower before class started. As she took in her surroundings she noticed the ocean way off in the distance through the trees. The sky was starting to turn lighten as the stars faded away. For several minutes Lisa stood still in awe of the miracle that was slowly taking place: the birth of a new day.

Behind her crept a certain Ra Yellow who had been out for a morning walk. It was during his walk that he came upon Lisa. While she admired the beauty of the scenery, he admired her. He took in how the rising sun's rays made her golden hair, which was a complete mess, seem if it was made of pure gold and how her face was so serene as she just enjoyed something so simple. Bastian drew closer to her and at first she didn't notice he was there. It wasn't until she was right beside him that she noticed that he was there. She jumped slightly as he blushed, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to startle you!"

Lisa smiled with a blush of her own reddening her face, "It's alright. How long have you been standing there?"

"I don't honestly know. I was so entranced by the beauty I came across directly in my path."

At this statement, the poor girl's face turned an even deeper shade of red as her smile grew even brighter, "I bet you say that to all the girls."

"What makes you say that?"

"For one I'm wearing sweats, my hair isn't fixed, I've obviously have been running because I'm sweating. Need I say more?"

Bastian gently replied with a smile that could be heard in his voice, "Lisa, you're beautiful no matter how you're dressed, much less how your hair looks. You have a beauty that shines from within."

"You have only known me for a few days. You can't possibly know that in such a short amount of time!"

The boy stood there as his smile turned into one of mischief, "Care to prove me wrong?"

"What did you have in mind?"

"May I accompany you for the rest of your run and perhaps join you for lunch later?"

Lisa returned the mischievous smile, "Only if you can keep up!"

With that she was off like a shot. Bastian stood there for a few seconds before he chuckled and darted off after her.

The couple weaved in and out of the trees as the young man pursued the young lady who he was starting to believe was really a nymph in disguise. After they had been racing for a long time, Bastian caught Lisa by the wrist as he twirled her around until she faced him. This act was done with such great force however that the two fell over onto the ground in a heap with Lisa on top of Bastian. The two blushed furiously over the outcome of their tumble and both picked themselves up quickly. After both had muttered their apologies, the young man smiled as he suggested that they both head back and get ready for class. Lisa nodded. Bastian took her hand in his as his lips brushed the back of her hand, "I'll see you at lunch then?"

Lisa's smile grew even brighter as she nodded and her face grew even redder. "Excellent! I'll see you then!"

With that the Ra Yellow ran off in the direction of his dorm as she headed towards hers. Her felt light as a feather. _I'm looking forward to lunch, Mr. Misawa, very much!_

When Lisa got back to the dorm room she shared with Caitlin, she noticed that her roommate wasn't there. Then she noticed she still had time to take a quick shower. After she showered, combed her hair, dried it, and put on her uniform, she went off to class humming sweet melody as she went.

Later that day during lunch…

Caitlin was surprised that as soon as the bell for lunch rang Lisa had darted out the door of the classroom. _I wonder where she's off to. She was up way earlier than she normally wakes up this morning, so something has got to be up._

When her best friend had walked into class earlier that morning she seemed to be in a really good mood. The golden haired girl had asked Caitlin where she had been earlier when Lisa herself had returned from her morning run, and Caitlin had answered her in complete honesty, "With Syrus, Chumley, and Jaden having breakfast."

_I had asked her where she had been, but she didn't answer. All she did was just space out with that really weird look on her face. Oh, well, maybe I shouldn't be complaining. Besides she seemed happy, so it couldn't be anything bad._

The dirty blonde headed girl finally came to the conclusion that her friend may have headed to the cafeteria. _After all she must have been hungry since she hadn't had any breakfast. She said so herself that much._

As Caitlin started to head that way she found Syrus looking around and through the masses of students around him. The dirty blonde headed Slifer came up behind him and tapped him on the shoulder making him jump slightly, "Oh, Caitlin! It's you!"

The pretty blonde Slifer smiled, "Who did you think it was?"

The blue-haired boy shrugged. Then he asked her, "Do you know where Jaden and Chumley are?"

"Chumley said that he was going to stay for tutoring. Jaden on the other hand may be with Alexis. I was just heading to the cafeteria to see if Lisa's there."

Syrus shook his head, "I just saw Lisa and Bastian head off towards the beach."

Caitlin smiled, "Ah, so that's where she's off to. Well, then I guess that means that we're on our own today for lunch."

"Yeah, I guess so," Syrus said as her returned the smile as he blushed.

_He's so cute when he blushes!_

After a few minutes, Syrus inquired, still blushing, "Well, shall we go eat?"

His blonde-haired friend's smile grew twice as bright as she answered, "We shall!"

Syrus shyly offered her his arm and she gladly took it. Caitlin was most certainly taller than Syrus by a few inches, but they looked cute together nonetheless. The short boy was worried deep down that he would trip or something, but he didn't. _Oh, man! What should I say? Should I say anything at all?_

Little did the poor boy know that she was thinking similar thoughts. _Should I say something? What is he thinking?_

When the pair reached the cafeteria they both went through the lunch line together. Both exchanged a look that said, "Okay, is this really edible?" But they accepted what they were given.

After the twosome had their meal, they found a table close to one of the windows with the sunlight streaming in. When they sat down Caitlin and Syrus bowed their heads for a minute in silence. When Syrus lifted his head once again, he noticed the sunlight making Caitlin's dark blonde hair glisten, making her seem like she was an angel praying. Her brow was furrowed in unspoken concern while her eyes were still closed, yet there was a peace that seemed to flow through her. When she opened her eyes she noticed Syrus staring at her. The blue-haired Slifer blushed as cast his glance outside the window. Caitlin's face grew warm as she too blushed, but she didn't turn her gaze away from her companion. Her smile grew wider as she gently teased him, "What's wrong, Sy? Do I have a zit?"

The poor boy blush turned from a rosy color to a rich red color, "Well, um… that is…"

"It's okay, Syrus. Relax," the blonde reassured him.

The blue-haired Slifer turned his gaze back to her. She started picking at the rice and fish that the cafeteria lady had given her. When she took a bite, her smile turned to a slight frown. Syrus raised an eyebrow at her expression, "Is it that bad?"

"Well, let me put it this way: it's edible, but I wouldn't recommend it to someone who was looking for a five-star restaurant quality meal."

Sy chuckled a little, "Yeah, Professor Banner is an excellent cook. He cooked our welcome dinner at the beginning of the year."

"What about Rachel? Does she cook?"

"I think she does. I'm not entirely sure. She's brought Professor Banner food when he was pulling some all-nighters grading essays."

Caitlin smiled, "Speaking of which, do you understand the essay that Dr. Crowler assigned?"

Syrus thought about it for a minute. _Oh, man! She's asking me for help on an assignment?_ He smiled at this thought. He quickly pulled out his notes and explained to the best of his ability about the ten page essay each member of the class was supposed to prepare on the Fusion Gate, Polymerization, and Power Bond cards.

At the end of his explanation he quickly added, "I'm not as good with this stuff as my bro is, but I do believe that's what Dr. Crowler is looking for."

Caitlin frowned, "Your explanation seemed letter perfect, Sy. What are you talking about?"

Syrus looked up at her in surprise, "You really think it was that good?"

"Yes, I really do."

The blue-haired boy blushed as he stared down at his plate, "Thanks."

Caitlin was puzzled over his actions, but decided to let the matter drop for now. When the two had finished their meal, they headed outside. The dark blonde-headed girl glanced at her companion. He was smiling, but there seemed to be a mixture of happiness and insecurity etched on his face. _What can I do to make him loosen up?_ She then noticed a swing set kind of enclosed by a semi-circle. She quickly took Syrus by the hand and led him over to the swings. "We can sit here and swing a little bit before we have to go back to class."

Syrus shyly smiled as he took a seat in the swing next to hers. They both swung back and forth just enjoying the wind gently rushing past them. Neither of them said anything for the longest time. They were happy just be in each other's company. Syrus glanced at her every now and then until he noticed her pull her scrunchy out of her hair, letting her honey colored hair that was in a high ponytail sway in the breeze as she swang. Sy stopped swinging and took in every feature. When Caitlin noticed this, she stopped swinging slowly. She asked inquisitively, "What's wrong?"

The blue-haired boy blushed, "You look really pretty with your hair down."

It was Caitlin's turn to blush as she smiled, flattered by his compliment. "Thanks."

Suddenly the bell rang signaling the end of lunch. The pair both exchanged a look that said that neither of them knew what to say. Finally Caitlin rose from her seat and smiled at Syrus as she motioned for him to walk with her back to class. Neither of the two said anything as they headed for the classroom, but both were most certainly lost in thought. Caitlin smiled to herself as she let Syrus's compliment replay over and over again in her mind. Syrus couldn't help but wonder if he had said the right thing. It was true that she seemed pleased with his compliment, but was she flattered because of the fact that he had given her a compliment, or was she really happy with the compliment because he had been the one to give her the compliment? _What should I do? I really like Caitlin, but how do I…? What should I…? Wait a minute! I'll ask Zane for advice! Surely he'll know what to do._

With that plan in mind, he perked up a little as he and Caitlin found their seats.

Back in Professor Banner's office…

Rachel stood over Chumley as he worked on his paper for Professor Banner's class over Pharaoh Atemu. Suddenly the bell signaling the end of lunch rang before Chumley moaned, "Oh, man! I don't really want to go to Dr. Crowler's class!"

Rachel smiled a sympathic smile, "Well, you'll only have to deal with Crowler for an hour today, so it shouldn't be as bad as you think."

"The class is usually an hour and a half, so why are we getting out early?"

"We're having a staff meeting later. Principal Shepherd is going to go over new rules and regulations for finals at the end of the year."

Chumley's brow furrowed in confusion, "It's still kind of early for that isn't it?"

"It is, but it's the good old boring stuff we, the teachers, are required to know. Now you had better head off to class. You don't want to be tardy do you?"

As he was gathering up his stuff, the phone rang. Rachel turned her back to her student as she answered, "Hello? Professor Banner! It's good to hear from you!"

Chumley smiled as he picked up his backpack. For a few minutes he could hear Rachel asking Professor Banner about his trip and how she almost let it slip that _she_ really missed him. _Those two need to get together! My gosh, it's obvious to anyone with half a brain cell that they really care about each other!_

The raven haired boy was about to leave the two "love birds" as he liked to call them in peace, until he overheard Rachel say, "What are you talking about? Everyone is fine. No, there hasn't been anything weird going on. Why do you ask? You had a feeling that something wasn't right? Professor, as far as I know everyone is fine. I don't think there's any reason for you to hurry back. You still have a few more meetings to attend don't you? Well, then stay for the meetings. Yes, yes, yes. I'll give you a call if anything happens. Bye."

Chumley silently went out the door before Rachel realized that he had overheard her end of the phone conversation. _I wonder what Professor Banner thought was wrong? Oh, well. Nothing that I need to worry about right now._ With those thoughts pushed aside for the moment, the Slifer rushed to class in hopes of not being late and receiving detention for it.

Back in Professor Banner's office…

Rachel sat lost in thought. She was glad to finally hear from Professor Banner, but she was puzzled about what he had told her. It wasn't the first time he had had those kind of gut feeling that something was going to happen. Sometimes he was wrong and sometimes he was right. _I hope this is one of the times that he's wrong. If something does go wrong, I'd rather Lyman be here. Oh, well. There's no since in worrying about something that may not happen. Lyman, please hurry back. I shouldn't be calling you by your first name, should I? On the other hand, no one can hear me. Lyman, I miss you._

Her green eyes sparkled in mirth for a few moments as she reflected on her feelings for the good professor. The red-head liked talking with the other few women on staff, but she liked talking with Professor Banner more. The other women were older than she was and always made her feel like she was still a little girl. They weren't rude to her or anything of that nature, but hearing them talk about their years of experience in their careers made her feel out of place sometimes. Rachel loved talking with the students too, but when she did talk with them she felt like she was more like their big sister than anything else. So either way she felt out place. But then there was Professor Lyman Banner. When she had come to Duel Academy, he took her under his wing and made her feel like she was an equal. _The truth is I'm not an equal, but it is nice that he does make me feel like I am. Maybe one day I will be an equal, but right now I'm not there yet._

With that thought she took a few minutes to straighten up the desk before she headed off to the staff meeting.

A/N: Thank you again, everyone who helped in some way, whether it was editing and pointing out mistakes or giving me ideas. - I have been blessed with such awesome reviewers and readers. Thank you again, Lisa and Raymanly73 for all your help. Thank you, Raymanly73 for being such an awesome editor. There are some of you wanted me to start doing longer chapters. If I do longer chapters then I'll have to take longer to write them, so be warned. I'm just saying that to give you all a heads up. There may be times when you won't here anything from me and it'll seem like I've forgotten the story, but rest assured, I haven't. So until next update, peace out and God bless!


	6. Trouble

Do You Really Love Me?

Disclaimer: Disclaimer: I do NOT own _Yu-Gi-Oh GX_. I also do not own Caitlin and Lisa, but I am using them with permission.

A/N: How often do I update? Whenever I can I'm afraid. I used to update once a week, but then school and the real world shudders at the thought got in the way. That and plus I'm attempting to write longer chapters. Harrington _does_ need to move on, but since in the fic he's not going to do that any time soon, then we'll have to bear his presence until his fate in the story comes to pass. Happy reading!

**Chapter 6 – Trouble**

Alexis could barely see what was taking place before her. Her vision was blurry at first, but then it cleared. When everything was clear she saw Jaden and a dark figure with their duel disks out and the duel had obviously been going on for a while. The dark figure looked like he was going to have one of his monsters attack Jaden directly! Just when the monster was moving in for the kill Jaden revealed that his facedown card was a trap card! Alexis sighed in relief. Judging from the looks of Jaden's life points, he wasn't doing so hot. Neither was the tall dark guy. _Who is that guy?_

Just before Jaden was about to make his next move, the mysterious stranger stated, "Don't forget, regardless if you win, whichever of your friends' souls you decided to use for my tribute to summon my monster will be locked away forever in the Shadow Realm!"

Jaden didn't even flinch as he responded boldly, "I haven't forgotten."

_What kind of monster did this guy summon?_

Alexis tried to voice her thoughts but found that she couldn't. He couldn't hear her! When she tried to move it felt like she was paralyzed! _Jaden, what's going on?_

The brown haired boy then made his final move and defeated the stranger, sending him to the Shadow Realm. Then Jaden turned to Alexis as he muttered something that she couldn't quite understand, and then he fell lifelessly to the ground. After his body touched the ground Alexis found that she could move once again and ran to him. Before she reached him shadow creatures swarmed about him until they covered his entire body. Alexis screamed, "NO! Jaden!"

When she finally reached the spot where his body once rested, the shadows where gone and so was Jaden. Tears started streaming down Alexis's face as she sobbed pounding the ground with clenched fists. Suddenly she felt something grab her by the arms.

"No, give Jaden back!"

Jaden awoke with a start. Someone was pounding on the door. Chumley and Syrus were awakened by the pounding too. Chumley climbed down the ladder as he gruffly shouted, "Alright already! I'm coming!"

He opened the door to reveal Alexis still in her night gown, with no shoes on whatsoever. "Chumley," she said with tears in her voice, "Where's Jaden? I need to see him!"

Syrus switched on the lamp that was on the other side of the room, while Jaden, upon hearing Alexis's voice, jumped out of bed and hurried to the door.

When the poor girl stepped into the light Jaden and his roommates could see that Alexis _had_ been crying. There were tears streaming down her face still. Jaden was about to ask her what was wrong when she threw her arms around him as she sobbed. "Calm down, Lex. What's wrong?"

The trembling girl couldn't really answer since she was sobbing so hard. Syrus pulled out a chair for Alexis to sit down while Jaden tried to get her to actually sit. She wouldn't let Jaden go for a minute. It was as if she was afraid he was going to vanish into thin air if she let go. So Jaden did the only thing he knew to do: he gathered Alexis into his arms gently as he himself sat down in the chair with her sitting in his lap.

Chumley closed the door quietly and then returned to his bed so that he could sit on his bunk while Syrus remained standing close by his friends. Jaden stroked Alexis's hair gently as he whispered in her ear, "Its okay. I'm here."

Syrus reached out and placed a comforting hand on the sobbing girl's shoulder, "What happened, Alexis?"

For a few minutes the blonde Obelisk didn't respond, but her sobs quieted down as she herself calmed down. When she was able to finally able to speak, she lifted her gaze to meet Jaden's as she brought her hand up to his face to gently stroke his cheek as if she was making sure he was really there. Jaden brought his hand up to hers as he asked her again with concern in his voice, "What's wrong, Alexis?'

Alexis bit her lip before she began to answer, "I had a dream, Jaden, that I had lost you."

Jaden had not expected this. "What do you mean?"

Alexis then went on to tell her friends about the dream she had had earlier. She told them of the monster card that had been tribute summoned and that in the dream Jaden had been able to choose the person's soul that Jaden's mysterious opponent would sacrifice. Syrus shuddered, "Oh, man, that doesn't sound like any ordinary monster card!"

Jaden nodded in agreement, "Hm… I wonder what kind of card that was, or if there really is such a card."

The next day was a Saturday. Jaden hoped that Alexis would use it to rest and recover from last night. After she had calmed down Jaden walked her back to her dorm with her tightly grasping his hand. Before he had turned to go, Alexis threw her arms around him. Jaden had returned the embrace that actually had felt more like a death-grip. The poor boy smiled slightly at the memory.

Jaden knew Alexis cared deeply for him, but ever since they broke up and then made up he had felt like there was still rift between them. Since last night though he felt like the two of them had taken another step closer to repairing their broken relationship, but at the same time he kept Rachel's words in mind, "There is no quick fix to your problem, Jaden…"

_Speaking of Rachel, I need to find her and ask her about the card that Alexis saw in her dream._

The first place that Jaden knew of to look was Rachel's room. He knocked on the door, but there was no answer. _That's odd._ _Usually on the weekends she's here just about all day._ He was about to walk away when the door opened to reveal Rachel in a pair of bike shorts, a red t-shirt, and a pair of white bunny-slippers on her feet. Her bright red curls were held back by a single clip so that Jaden could clearly see a pair of green eyes that were still not yet fully awake. She smiled groggily, "Top o' the morning to ya', Jaden. What can I do for you? More relationship troubles?"

"Actually, no. I do need to talk to you about Alexis, but it doesn't relate to our relationship troubles."

Rachel nodded, "Well, come on in and make yourself comfortable while I make some coffee."

While the TA set about her task, Jaden made himself comfortable on Rachel's couch. Her room like Professor Banner's was a small room but it was a bit bigger than the average size student dorm room due to the extra space needed for the kitchenette area. It only took a few minutes for Rachel to have the coffee ready. As she carefully made her way over to the couch to hand Jaden a cup of coffee, Pharaoh, Professor Banner's cat, tackled Rachel's feet almost making the red-head spill the very hot coffee. Jaden quickly received the cup before it was spilled. Rachel yelped as Pharaoh dug his claws and teeth into her slippers, "Darn cat! My bunny-slippers are not chew toys! I'll be glad when Professor Banner gets back so he take you back to his room and keep you there!"

Jaden tried his best to stifle his laughter and failed miserably. Rachel nodded as a mischievous smile graced her lips, "Laugh it up, Jay! I'll just make sure that Pharaoh stays with you next time!"

After a few minutes Jaden's laughter subsided and it was then that Rachel inquired once again, "So, what can I do for you?"

Jaden told her of Alexis coming to his, Chumley's, and Syrus's dorm room the night before and the dream the pretty blonde had told them about. He carefully relayed the information concerning the strange card that Alexis had told him about that brought his demise in her dream. Rachel frowned upon hearing about the strange card, but continued to listen attentively. After Jaden had finished, the TA sat for a few moments lost in thought with look of concern evident on her face. "I have never heard of such a card, Jaden. If there is such a card, then it more than likely existed way back in ancient Egypt."

"Is there any way to find out for sure whether or not one of those cards exists?"

Rachel thought for a moment, "The only thing I know to do is to ask, Ly-… I mean, Professor Banner the next time he calls."

Jaden noticed the red-head's face turn red when she had almost called the professor by his first name. _I wonder what the big deal is. It's not like we're in class or anything, so she can call him anything she wants._ He decided for the moment to ignore his observation as mentally pushed it aside to ask, "Will you please ask Professor Banner the next time he calls, Rachel?"

She nodded and smiled, her face still flushed. Jaden grinned from ear to ear, "Thanks!"

As he was about to turn to go, he changed his mind about keeping quite about his observation, "You know, since we're not in class, it's okay for you to call Professor Banner by his first name."

Rachel's face turned even redder as Jaden smiled and turned let himself out, leaving her to ponder his words.

As soon as Jaden had left Rachel's room, he went to the Slifer cafeteria in search of some food. He didn't find many of his fellow Slifer Red students up and about. When he received his food he found Chumley sitting alone at one of the tables. When Jaden sat down across him, Chumley looked up at Jaden in surprise, "You're up early."

"Yeah, I went to ask Rachel about the weird card Alexis saw in her dream."

"That's good. What did she say?"

Jaden relayed what little information that Rachel had shared with him to his roommate. When he had finished, he noticed a look of worry and concern on Chumley's face. "What's wrong?"

The stout boy looked Jaden in the eye as he stated, "Syrus and I were talking earlier about Alexis's dream, and well… You don't suppose that this dream could be foretelling the future, do you?"

Jaden frowned, "I don't know. I hope not. For right now let's not worry about it. Rachel said that she's going to ask Banner about it the next time he calls. Who knows, Chumley? That card might not even exist."

"True. It could have been a just a not-so-licious dream."

Chumley turned to notice that Jaden was lost in thought. He was about to ask him what he was thinking about when Jaden asked, "Do you think Rachel has a crush on Professor Banner?"

_What? How could he not know? How could he have not noticed after all this time?_ "Yeah, Jay, Professor Banner and Rachel totally have a crush on each other!"

Jaden's eyes widened a bit, "Are you serious? He likes her and she likes him back?"

"Yeah! The entire class knows!"

The brown-headed boy's shoulders slumped in embarrassment, "I guess I've been too caught up in my own problems…"

Suddenly, Syrus rushed in through the cafeteria door as he headed for Jaden and Chumley's table. He looked like was about to say something, but he was out of breath, so after a few minutes had passed Jaden inquired, "What's up, Sy? Where's the fire?"

The blue-haired boy looked up finally found his voice as he looked at his friends with worry in his eyes, "It's terrible! Last night one of the Obelisk blue girls went missing…. I think it was Mindy…, and she was found this morning on one of the forest trails this morning unconscious and her cards scattered everywhere!"

Jaden's eyes widened in shock, "Is she alright?"

"I don't know, but all I do know is that Bastian and Lisa found her this morning while they were doing their morning run. They've taken her to the nurse's office to see if she's alright."

The brown-headed boy rose from his seat and took off out the door. Shortly after Chumley and Syrus followed.

Back in Rachel's room….

Rachel sat on her bed and stared of into space while Pharaoh played with her slippers on the floor, or actually proceeded to destroy them. _The professor is going to owe me a new pair of slippers!_ The red-head sighed as she continued to ponder the words Jaden had said to her earlier: '_You know, since we're not in class, it's okay for you to call Professor Banner by his first name.'_

She let out an exasperated sigh. _I'm making this more difficult than what it really is. Jaden is right. Outside of class it doesn't matter what I call the professor… well as long as I'm not talking to a faculty member. Or would it?_

The red-head didn't have long to think about this however. For a knock at her door brought her out of her thoughts. When she opened the door, a very out of breath Caitlin stepped over the threshold and almost fell onto Rachel's couch from exhaustion. Rachel motion for her student to sit, but she shook her head as she stated, "Something has terrible has happened. Mindy was attacked or something of that nature. Bastian and Lisa found her unconscious this morning while they were on their morning run. Chancellor Shepherd wanted me to find you and tell you that there's supposed to be an emergency faculty meeting."

With that Rachel quickly threw on a pair of jeans a slipped on a pair of tennis shoes and motioned for Caitlin to lead the way.

A/N: Thank you everyone who reviewed and even those who didn't. Thank you, those of you who sent in suggestions and/or helped me in finding information or provided me with information about characters, etc. Thank you, Raymanly73! You're an awesome editor! - I'm hoping to update sometime next week, but then again life could throw me a few curve balls. I've got the next chapter planned out in my head and I finally have decided on a villain. I was having a hard time choosing between 2 villains and I finally made a choice. So until next update, peace out and God bless!


	7. A Patient, a Phone Call, & Some Advice

Do You Really Love Me?

Disclaimer: Disclaimer: I do NOT own _Yu-Gi-Oh GX_. I also do not own Caitlin and Lisa, but I am using them with permission.

A/N: Hey, everyone! I'm sorry the update took so long. Life decided to through me quite a few curve balls, but it's all good. This summer has been a trying one, but the Lord is good. - Once I get back to school, I'll probably update more often, but I won't be back at school until the end of this month. So yeah, if you don't hear from me for a while then that's why. I just wanted to give everybody a heads up.

**Chapter 7 – A Patient, a Phone Call, & Some Advice **

While Principal Shepherd and the rest of the faculty were having their emergency meeting, Jaden, Syrus, Chumley, and Caitlin hurried to the clinic to see how Mindy was faring. When they reached the room she was staying in they found Bastian, Lisa, Jasmine, Zane, and even Alexis gathered around Mindy's bed where she lay sleeping. Alexis got up from her seat across the room and hurried into Jaden's embrace. Silently she let her tears roll gently down her cheeks. Jaden looked up at the others who had been in the room longer than he had as he inquired, "Any ideas as to who attacked her?"

Bastian replied with a downcast gaze, "No one knows who attacked her. When Lisa and I found her on the trail this morning, we couldn't find any sign of a struggle. There are no visible injuries on her body."

Lisa added, "The only clue that we found was as to whom the attacker was is the fact that Mindy was wearing her duel disk and her cards were scattered everywhere on the ground."

Jaden said bluntly, "Whoever attacked her was the person she was dueling."

Lisa nodded, "Exactly."

Syrus asked, "Did the nurse say if she's going to be okay?"

Zane looked over at his little brother as he responded solemnly, "She examined her several times and found nothing wrong with her, but Mindy won't wake up."

Alexis loosened her hold on Jaden as she wiped her tears away, "I must have woke Mindy up last night when I went to see you, Jaden. She must have followed me to make sure I was alright."

Jaden gently lifted her chin so that her eyes would be level with his, "Lex, it's not your fault."

The school nurse silently approached as she came in with a clipboard in hand. She checked Mindy's pulse as she shook her head. She looked up from her patient to the students crowded in the room as stated, "There's nothing else that I can do."

Syrus inquired, "Will she be alright?"

The petite lady shrugged, "I don't know. All I know is that she is in a coma and that comas can last for days, months, or even years. I've already sent word to her parents of her condition as well as their family physician, and he has told me that if Mindy shows no signs of improvement in week then to send word to him and he'll send a plane to take her to a hospital in Tokyo."

Later on that day after the faculty meeting Rachel found herself once again in her room. After she had cleaned up the mess of fabric and stuffing that used to be her bunny slippers, the young woman sat down on her bed by the phone. _He said to call him if something went wrong, and Jaden wanted me to ask him about that card Alexis saw in her dream. Is this what he sensed would happen?_ The red-head knew that there was only one way to find out.

She picked up the phone and dialed Professor Banner's cell phone number. After a few moments the phone started ringing. Rachel started twirling a strand of hair nervously after the phone on Banner's end rang a few times. When she realized what she was doing, she stopped and let out an exasperated sigh. _My gosh, I'm acting like I'm a junior high school student! _

"Hello?"

"Professor, I've got some bad news…"

"What's wrong, Rachel?" Banner asked concern evident in his voice.

Back at the clinic, the nurse finally shooed her patient's anxious visitors out and encouraged them to go get something to eat. Reluctantly all nine students decided to heed "doctor's orders," or in this case "nurse's orders" and go grab a late lunch at the Card Shack. Once everyone had their food they found a shaded spot outside for all them to sit and eat, they did so in silence.

Caitlin looked around and silently wished that there was something she could do to cheer everyone up. She didn't really know Mindy that well; as a matter of fact she had never actually talked to Mindy or vice versa. For several minutes Caitlin sat lost in thought before she glanced at Syrus. Concern and sadness were in his eyes, his gaze downcast. One look at his sandwich told her that he had barely touched it. _Syrus _does_ know Mindy well though, or at least better than I do._

When she had first arrived at Duel Academy, Caitlin had had her classic case of the nerves which had helped her feel like an outsider. Then Jaden, Chumley, Syrus, and Bastian had come along and took her and Lisa under their wing and they all had become fast friends. After that she had felt like she was truly a part of the group. _I just wish that there was something I could do to help Mindy._

Syrus looked up from the sandwich he had barely touched to see a forlorn expression on Caitlin's face. He wanted to ask what was troubling her, but then again all of his friends were troubled. _She's probably worried that someone else might get attacked like her or Lisa. I wish I could tell her that everything was going to be alright, that I'd protect her…, but she'd probably think I was being silly… What should I do? What _can _I do?_

He glanced at a lone figure that stood quietly with his back against a nearby tree. It was Syrus's older brother, Zane Truesdale. He was just finishing his sandwich and by the direction he was walking in, Syrus figured he was heading for the docks. _Wait a minute! I can ask Zane!_

Syrus quickly said to Caitlin, "I'll be back. I need to talk with Zane. Okay?"

She looked up and nodded, "Okay."

With that Syrus ran off in hot pursuit after his big brother. It didn't take long for him to find him. Just as Syrus had thought, Zane was heading toward the docks.

Zane stood on the dock staring out at the horizon. The tall young man usually came here when he needed to think. The sound of the ocean's waves lapping at the support beams of the dock and the feel of the salty sea breeze were very soothing. He closed his eyes for a moment to savor the feel of the gentle wind and the sound of the ocean's waves.

After a few minutes a soft, troubled voice broke his concentration, "Zane, can we talk?"

The tall youth turned to see Syrus looking up at him with a pair of troubled eyes. "What do we need to talk about?"

"Well," Syrus shifted uncomfortably as he paused momentarily before he continued, "it's about a …girl. I need advice about girls."

Zane was a bit taken aback. Once he thought about it, this was probably the first time Syrus had asked him for advice on something other than Duel Monsters. _And it _has _to be about girls!_

"What do you need to know about girls? I don't know much about girls myself, Syrus, but I'll try to answer your questions the best I can."

For a second Syrus struggled mentally on where to begin. He finally started out by telling him about Caitlin and how they had quickly become such good friends as well as how he felt about her, and his fears about she may or may not return his feelings.

For a few minutes after Syrus had finished, Zane smiled a small smile, "For starters, Syrus, rest assured that you're not the first guy to ever feel this way about a girl, so relax. Have you talked to her about your feelings for her at all?"

The small boy shook his head. "Well, why not talk to her about it? You never know, Sy. She just might feel the same way."

"But what if she doesn't?"

Zane sighed, "If she doesn't, then the two of you can always still be friends, can't you?"

Syrus thought about it for a moment, "Yeah, I guess you're right. Wow, Zane, I thought that you were going to tell me to go ask Bastian or Jaden for advice at first. It seems to me that you know a lot about girls."

"I only know so much about girls because of my friendship with Alexis. I have no girlfriend because my only passion right now is dueling."

Zane paused for a moment, "As for sending you Jaden or Bastian, I would only tell you ask them if I didn't know how to best answer your question."

Syrus smiled, "Thanks, bro! You're the best."

Zane didn't know what to say so he smiled in response.

Back at the Card Shack….

Bastian, Lisa, Caitlin, Jasmine, Chumley, Jaden, and Alexis tried to talk about more pleasant things other than Mindy's attacker, but they couldn't find many positive things to talk about. Jasmine rose from her seat and decided to head back to the Obelisk Blue dorm. Before she could leave, Alexis pointed out that it wasn't a good idea to go anywhere by herself while Mindy's mysterious attacker was on the loose. Jasmine thought about her words for a minute, "You're probably right, 'Lex."

Jaden thought for minute, "Well, why I don't I escort you and Jasmine back to your dorm, Alexis? Besides you need some rest since you didn't get much sleep last night."

Alexis sighed grumpily at this reminder, "Alright… Wait up then, Jasmine. We're coming with you."

After the three had left, Bastian turned to his remaining friends, "If you three are ready, then we can walk back to our dorms together."

Chumley nodded, "That's sounds like a good plan!"

Caitlin frowned, "What about Syrus and Zane? They went off somewhere to talk, but I don't know where."

Chumley thought for a moment, "Well, why don't I go look for Syrus and Zane?"

Bastian shook his head, "Not by yourself, my friend. Why don't we escort the ladies back to the Slifer Dorm, and then you and I will go look for Syrus?"

"That won't be necessary, Bastian," said a rough voice. The foursome turned and saw both of the Truesdale brothers approaching them.

Zane smiled a small smile, "Seems like your friends were about to form a search party, Syrus. I guess you were gone to long."

Syrus grinned sheepishly, "Yeah, I guess so. I'm sorry I worried you guys."

Bastian teased the shortest Truesdale brother, "It's alright. Now that we know you're safe, we can all head back to our dormitories with a peace of mind."

Zane turned to go as he inquired, "Is that where Jasmine and Alexis have gone?"

"Yeah, Jaden is escorting them back to the girls' dorm as we speak."

"I guess I'll head back to my dorm as well then. I'll see you all tomorrow."

With that Zane headed off towards the Obelisk Blue boys dorm. Syrus joined his friends as they all started heading back to their dorms. Caitlin walked beside Syrus as the two of them stayed a few steps behind the others. She really wanted to know what Syrus had talked about with Zane. _Whatever they talked about, it seems like they had had a good conversation if the looks on their faces were anything to go by at this point._ Silently Caitlin wondered if she should ask Syrus what they had talked about. She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye and noticed that his smile from when he had returned with Zane had been replaced by a thoughtful frown. "Syrus, is everything alright?"

He turned to face Caitlin as her voice snapped him out his thoughts, "Yeah, I'm just thinking about something that Zane told me."

"What did you two talk about? You were gone for a long time."

Syrus tensed up a little, "Well it's….something I've been meaning to…. That is I… Caitlin, will you ….meet me tomorrow down by the beach at noon?"

She blushed as she nodded in response, "Of course."

"Great!" Syrus smiled as he too blushed. He had never had much luck with girls mostly because he had lacked the courage to talk to them in the past. When he had talked to them in the past he had been unfortunate to be blown off and receive remarks about his height or he had been called things like "dork," "geek", and similar names. Caitlin however had already proved to be different due to the fact that she had pursued a friendship with him and seemed to like Syrus for who he was. _I just hope that she doesn't freak out when I tell her how I feel._

A/N: Thank you, Raymanly73! As always you are awesome! Hopefully it won't be long before I update again. Thank you all for reading and thank you to those who reviewed and gave me a nudge keep on going. Until next time, peace out and God bless!


	8. Who's In Danger?

Do You Really Love Me?

Disclaimer: Disclaimer: I do NOT own _Yu-Gi-Oh GX_. I also do not own Caitlin and Lisa, but I am using them with permission.

A/N: I'm sorry it took me so long to update. I'm back at school and on top of that I've had a case of writer's block and some other stuff. To be honest I was a little intimidated by this chapter because of the fact that it's so intense (well for me it was intense). Those of you who like long chapters, here you go! - I hope you enjoy! I know there were some of you who were starting to miss a certain character, so I've got good news. He's back!

**Chapter 8 – Who's In Danger? **

Alexis shielded her eyes from the bright sunlight that was trying to pierce through the tree tops of the woods. _Why am I out here?_ The pretty blonde noticed that not too far ahead was a fork in the forest trail. This particular location seemed familiar, but she couldn't put her finger on it. As she walked along the path she felt as though she was actually walking bare foot. When she stubbed her toe on a stone in her path she looked down at her feet and saw that she was bare foot. She wasn't even dressed to be outside either for that matter for she was still wearing her white nightgown. The Queen of Obelisk Blue blushed at this realization. _Why am I out in the middle of the woods still wearing my nightclothes?_ She didn't have long to ponder this however.

Out of nowhere a girl with dirty blonde hair wearing red sweat pants and a white t-shirt came running down one of the paths in front of Alexis. For a moment everything seemed to be in slow motion for Alexis. She could see the panic-stricken face of the stranger clearly. Alexis's eyes widened as she realized who the stranger was. She was one of the girls from the Slifer Red Dorm! _But what's wrong? Why is she running?_ Not too far behind the terrified girl was a Celtic Guardian who appeared to be following her in hot pursuit with his sword drawn. _Whoa! What is a Celtic Guardian doing chasing her?_

A second look at the rest of the Slifer Red girl's pursuers made Alexis do a double take. Not only did she have a Celtic Guardian chasing her but she also had a Blue Eyes White Dragon and a Swift Gaia the Fierce Knight, and bringing up the rear was a man dressed in a black ninja outfit and a duel disk.

The Slifer Red girl sped down the other path, away from Alexis, and the monsters and the unknown duelist quickly followed. Alexis started to race after them in hopes of trying to help the girl if she could. The Blue Eyes breathed its white lightning in the girl's direction at the ninja's command. _Oh, no! They're not just chasing her, they're attacking her!_

After a few minutes of running after her schoolmate and her attackers, Alexis noticed that she couldn't seem to run fast enough to catch up with them. Everything around Alexis started to blur, making everything look like an abstract water-color painting. She heard her schoolmate's cries for help as Alexis frantically searched for her. Suddenly everything went quiet, and then a bright blinding light from somewhere deep in the forest was accompanied by an ear-piercing scream.

Alexis sat straight up in her bed as she woke up from her dream with small beads of cold sweat lining her brow. _Oh, no! I've got to warn Caitlin!_

The early morning sun's rays were trying to peak through the blinds that hung over the window in Caitlin and Lisa's dorm room, letting Lisa know it was time to get up to go for her morning run. She forced herself out of bed and noticed a note had been slipped under the door. She picked it up and opened it to find it was a note from Bastian saying that he wasn't feeling well this morning so he was going to stay in bed today. Lisa sighed in disappointment as she returned to her bed. She really enjoyed running with Bastian in the mornings. For a split second she thought that maybe he had had enough of her, but then she silently scolded herself for thinking such a thing. _If that was the case then he would have showed signs that he was getting bored of me much sooner._

"You're not going for your run this morning with tall, dark, and handsome?" inquired a voice from across the room.

Lisa looked up from Bastian's note and answered her best friend with her disappointment evident in her voice, "No. He's not feeling well this morning."

Caitlin sat up slowly, "Well if you'd like, I'll run with you this morning. I know it's been awhile since the last time we actually spent any time together."

Lisa thought for a minute before responding, "You're right, Caitlin! That's been mostly my fault I'm afraid since I've…"

Her roommate smiled knowingly, "It's just as much my fault as it is yours. It's alright. That's why I'm suggesting that we go ahead and take this opportunity to spend some time together, so we can talk and catch up."

"It sounds great!"

With that the two girls got up and started to get dressed so they would be ready to walk out the door.

A little while later during that same hour Alexis sprinted to the Slifer Red Dorm. _I've got to get there before Caitlin decides to go anywhere!_ After she had waked up from the nightmare she had had earlier she had hurried out of bed and quickly slid on a pair of shoes. A half-asleep Jasmine had tried to stop her on her way out to ask her what was wrong, but Alexis had sped past her nearly knocking her down. _I'm sorry, Jasmine, but I can't let what happened to Mindy happen to anyone else._

As the Slifer dorm came in sight, Alexis prayed that she wasn't too late. She then realized that she didn't know which room was Caitlin's. _But I know someone who does!_ In less than what seemed to be a few seconds, she was pounding on Syrus, Jaden, and Chumley's door once again. This time though Jaden was the one to answer. He rubbed his eyes as he sleepily asked, "What's up, Alexis?"

"Jaden, where's Caitlin's room?"

"It's downstairs, next door to Rachel's. Why?"

Then he noticed that she was in her nightgown once again, "Did you have another nightmare?"

Alexis didn't answer for she had quickly turned on her heel to rush down to Caitlin's room. She pounded on the door for several minutes, but no one answered.

"I don't think she's there, Lex," stated Jaden as he approached her still wearing his pajamas as well.

"Well, don't you two make a lovely pair? Both of you still decked out in you pajamas," said a sarcastic voice that was one floor up which belonged to none other than Chazz Princeton.

"Now how about you two quit making all that racket?" the former Obelisk Blue student asked sharply.

Jaden smiled, "Good morning to you too, sun-shine!"

Rachel's door opened to reveal the red-headed TA with a cup of coffee in hand and a frown on her face that was aimed at her three students. "What seems to be the problem?"

Alexis explained that she was looking for Caitlin and asked if Rachel if she knew where Caitlin could be. Rachel questioned her Obelisk Blue pupil further, "Alexis, is something wrong?"

"I think that Caitlin may be in trouble or that she might be at some point in the near future."

"What makes you think so?"

Alexis told her about the dream she had had, and as she got to the part where she had realized in the dream that she was on one of the forest trails Rachel's facial expression changed to one of concern. A voice with a British accent stated from behind Alexis, "That path you mentioned sounds a lot like the trail that Lisa takes in the morning when she goes for her morning run."

Chazz still standing on the balcony one floor above them scoffed, "In case you weren't listening, Bastian, Alexis said that it was Caitlin that is or will be in trouble, not your girlfriend. Speaking of which, you're off to a late start aren't you? Don't you and Lisa usually run together in the morning?"

The handsome Ra Yellow student nodded, "We do usually, but she sent me this note saying that she was ill this morning, and I came to check up on her."

Rachel furrowed her brow in confusion, "Lisa is fine, Bastian. She and Caitlin both went running together this morning."

"What? Are you sure, Rachel?"

The red-head nodded in response, "I saw them as I was coming back from the cafeteria. I think I even over-heard Lisa saying, 'I can't believe that Bastian is sick.'"

Alexis frowned, "It sounds like both of them may be in trouble. I say we all go look for them."

Jaden nodded in agreement, "Let's go!"

Rachel quickly caught each of the duo by the arm as she firmly stated, "Not in your pajamas, you two! Jaden, go get changed right quick. Alexis, I'll let you borrow an outfit of mine. The rest of you, however, can get started looking for Lisa and Caitlin now. I want you all to split into groups of two at least."

"What? You can't be serious, Rachel? You want us to look for Lisa and Caitlin just because Alexis had a nightmare?

"No, Chazz. I want you to look for them because of this whole thing about Bastian receiving a note from Lisa saying that she's ill when she went running this morning and seemed perfectly healthy. I doubt its Lisa's nature to lie about something like this."

"And not to mention that duelist that attacked Mindy is still out there," added Alexis.

"Alright, fine! The Chazz is on the case!"

Rachel raised an eyebrow at Chazz's statement as she was about to make a remark, but Jaden nudged her and quietly cut her off, "All we need to do is humor him."

Jaden then exclaimed with a grin on his face, "You heard Chazz, everyone! Let's get this search party started!"

Meanwhile along the forest trail, Lisa and Caitlin were stopping to catch their breath. The two best friends had been running for a little over half an hour already so they were due a break. Lisa wiped her brow as she noticed Caitlin claiming a large rock so she could sit and rest. She gently teased Caitlin, "Shame for shame! You haven't been running every day and now it's catching up with you."

Caitlin shook her head as she smiled, "Yeah, I know. So, tell me how did you and Bastian start running together every morning?"

"Well, he was on a morning walk one day while I was on my morning run. We got to talking…."

"And he asked you to be his girlfriend?"

Lisa blushed, "No. Actually he hasn't asked me to be his girlfriend yet. We agreed to get to know each better as good friends first and then just go from there."

"Really? It looks like you two are already a couple," Caitlin stated in surprise.

"If I hadn't overheard you and Syrus talking yesterday when we were heading back to the dorm, then I would have thought the same thing about you two," said Lisa with a mischievous grin spreading from ear to ear.

It was Caitlin's turn to blush. She smiled at the memory of her and Syrus talking the day before. "So what do you think Syrus wants to talk to you about at your rendezvous later on?"

"I'm not sure."

"Do you think that he wants to ask you to be his girlfriend?"

Caitlin's blush went from pink to almost crimson as she managed to say, "I….don't know,"

"But?"

"But I hope he does," finished Caitlin quietly.

Lisa placed a gentle reassuring hand on her friend's shoulder as she offered a few words of comfort, "I don't think you have anything to worry about. He's crazy about you. Every time he's around you, I can see his admiration for you written on his face."

"Do you really think he likes me?"

Lisa nodded.

For a few minutes the two were silent. Then Lisa playfully shouted, "I'll race you back to the dorm, Caitlin! Ready, get set, go!"

With that Lisa took off while Caitlin rose from her seat and exclaimed, "Lisa, wait a minute!"

She sighed as rushed to catch up with her friend, but Lisa was too fast for her. _She knows I don't know the path that well!_ Pretty soon Lisa was out of her sight, and not before too long she came to a fork in the trail. _This is great! This is another reason to go running everyday: so I can get to know the trails better._ For several minutes she stood at the fork wondering which way led back to the dorm. There was a sign that was supposed to tell her which way to go, but the painted letters were so faded and chipped, that she couldn't make out what it said. _Well I guess I'll just have to try process of elimination._ With her mind made up she decided to take the path that veered right. _But for now I'm just going to walk. I'm tired enough as it is._

Jaden rushed back upstairs in what seemed like a flash. He went through his closet quickly in search of some decent clothes. Finally he settled on a gray pair of shorts and a red t-shirt. As he was finishing getting dressed Syrus and Chumley walked in through the door. Syrus smiled as he said, "Jay, they're still serving breakfast in the cafeteria if you're…."

"There's no time, Sy," Jaden replied.

"What's the big rush?" Chumley inquired.

Jaden looked up from the task of putting his socks and shoes on as he stated, "I'll have to explain on the way. You're definitely not going to like it, Sy."

"Huh? What do you mean, Jay?"

Caitlin searched anxiously for a sign or anything that would give her a clue as to where she was. The part of the forest she found herself in had a thick, green canopy overhead that allowed very little sunshine through. There were no birds singing or any other animals about anywhere. The only sound to be heard for miles was Caitlin's footsteps on the dirt path. As she continued to walk on, a ghostly white mist slowly started to engulf her. Before she realized it, the mist completely surrounded her. It became so thick that she could barely see what lay before her. The thought that she could easily walk off a cliff and not even notice it until it was too late, made her stomach churn. _What should I do? I never thought this would happen on a morning run. Should I yell for help?_

Suddenly, the frightened girl heard what sounded like a twig snap behind her. Instantly, she froze, stopping dead in her tracks straining her ears to listen for any other sounds of movement around her. For a few minutes she didn't hear anything. She breathed a deep sigh of relief. _Maybe I should turn back…_

As Caitlin was about to turn around, she felt a cold, metallic hand grab her by the arm.

Syrus, Jaden, Alexis, Rachel, and Chumley followed Bastian and Chazz as the two led the way down the path that Bastian knew to be the path that Lisa and Caitlin most likely took. Jaden and Alexis quickly filled Syrus and Chumley in on what was going on. As soon as Syrus realized that the two missing girls were in possible danger, he quickened his steps and frantically looked around for any possible signs of where Caitlin and Lisa could possibly have gone. Chumley, Bastian, and Chazz started calling out the two girls' names. Pretty soon Syrus joined in. _Oh, man! I feel so helpless! Caitlin and Lisa could be anywhere. They could be lost or…seriously hurt!_

Syrus's last thought made his stomach do a swan dive. He tried to put the thought out of his mind, but it refused to quit eating away slowly at his composure. Jaden turned to his best friend upon noticing Syrus's anxiety, "Don't worry, Sy. I'm sure Caitlin is fine. Mindy didn't have anyone with her when she was attacked, but Caitlin does. As long as Lisa and Caitlin are together they'll be fine."

Syrus nodded quietly, "That's true. There _is_ strength in numbers."

Alexis added trying to sound as positive as Jaden, "That's right! Just think, Syrus, when we find Lisa, we'll find Caitlin too."

Upon hearing these words the blue-haired boy smiled a small smile and relaxed a little, "Thanks, guys."

Bastian shouted Lisa's name once again and then Caitlin's. The Ra Yellow student called out Lisa's name once again a little louder than the last time.

"Bastian! I'm right here! No need to shout!" exclaimed a familiar voice as the owner fought her way through a few bushes behind the group. Everyone turned to see Lisa with wind blown hair and few stray twigs clinging to her t-shirt and her bangs.

Bastian rushed towards her and drew her into a tight embrace as she wrapped her arms around his neck. Her friends gathered around her asking her a whole bunch of questions. As Lisa reluctantly released her crush she felt Syrus's hand grasp her shoulder as he asked her, "Where's Caitlin?"

The others fell silent as they awaited her answer. Lisa questioningly raised an eyebrow as she replied, "I don't know. The last time I saw her we were racing back to the dorm. I thought she was following me, but when I got back to the dorm I turned and looked back and realized that she wasn't behind me… Bastian? I thought … You sent me a note this morning telling me you were sick…."

Bastian pulled a folded piece of paper out of his blazer pocket as he handed it to her, "I thought you had sent me a note telling me that _you_ were ill."

Lisa opened the note and looked it over carefully. She furrowed her brow as she shook her head, "I didn't write this."

Rachel asked, "Does the hand-writing in Bastian's note look similar to the hand-writing in the note you received?"

Lisa looked closely at the beautifully written words on the page once again and then nodded, "They do."

Syrus swallowed as he realized what this meant, "You two were set up. Someone wanted Lisa to go running by herself this morning."

Lisa's heartbeat started to quicken as Syrus's words sunk in, "Oh, my… Caitlin!"

Caitlin ran down the path not daring to look back. Looking back at this point would be pointless. She could hear her pursuers chasing her down the forest trail. The mist still made it hard for her to see, but she couldn't afford to slow down and be cautious. Tree branches scratched her face as she weaved through denser part of the woods. Stones and fallen sticks caused her to stumble a few times, but she managed to catch herself and press on. She had what appeared to be a knight on horse back, a Celtic warrior, something that closely matched the description of a Blue Eyes White Dragon, and a man dressed in a white ninja outfit chasing her. If she had just seen these guys at a distance earlier and the Celtic warrior hadn't grabbed her by the arm she would have thought her eyes had been playing tricks on her. She would have thought that she was having a dream …or a nightmare where a Celtic Guardian, a Blue Eyes White Dragon, a Swift Gaia the Fierce Knight, and…whatever Duel Monster the ninja was supposed to be, were fighting her. _Whether they're real or not, I'm not stopping to find to out!_ As far as Caitlin was concerned the weapons that ninja and the other warriors carried looked real enough. As Caitlin came to a fork in the trail she took the path that veered right hoping that she would be able to loose her pursuers. Taking the path would make it easier for them to catch her since there were little to no obstacles. The mist started to thin out, but as the mist disappeared, Caitlin found herself staring up into the face of a wall of what appeared to be sandstone that rose at least ten to fifteen feet above her. The frightened girl realized that she had nowhere to go. She was trapped!

Caitlin turned to see her hunters had come for her. Gaia appeared on his horse on her left, Celtic Guardian on her right, and the Blue Eyes carried the ninja on its back. Both warriors drew their weapons while the ninja dismounted the dragon. He addressed her in an emotionless voice, "You must duel me for your freedom if you wish to see your friends again."

Caitlin tried to appear brave or at least braver than what she felt, "And if I don't?"

The masked stranger drew close to her. When he was arm's-length away from her, he grabbed her chin and raised her face so that her eyes were level with his, "You're in way over your head. Don't try to be brave, Missy."

Caitlin quickly freed her chin by turning her face away from him abruptly. He claimed her chin once more with a firmer grasp, "You have a lot more spirit than that classmate of yours I defeated the other night. This will be a very interesting duel."

With that he shoved a duel disk into her hands as he turned away from her. Seeing this as her opportunity, Caitlin raised the duel disk high over head and forcefully brought it down on her challenger's head.

Professor Banner stepped out of the helicopter as he shouted his thanks to the pilot and hurried off heading towards the Slifer Red dorm. As he made his way off the landing area he found Zane Truesdale heading for the Slifer dorm as well. "Zane, wait up!"

His pupil turned to see who was addressing him. "Professor Banner, you're back a little early aren't you?"

"Rachel called me and told what had happened to Mindy."

Zane nodded in understanding, "Yeah, everyone has been worried about her. I just left the clinic and according to the nurse there are no signs of improvement yet."

"That's Rachel told me that most of the students, especially the Obelisks, have been greatly distressed."

As the Slifer dorm came in site, Zane added, "Rachel asked me to check on Mindy this morning and to stop by her room to let her know how she's doing. I think out of all those on staff Rachel has worried the most. She's been encouraging students to not go anywhere without at least one other person companying them."

Professor Banner smiled slightly, "That's my… Yes, that is Rachel for you."

If Zane had heard Banner almost call his T.A. "my Rachel," then he didn't show it. He let out a small sigh, and continued on the path, "I need to stop by Rachel's room too and relieve her of Pharaoh."

At the mention of Pharaoh, Zane smiled and nodded. For a minute it seemed like he was trying to suppress a chuckle. "Is there something about Pharaoh, I need to know about?"

Zane shook his head, "I think your T.A. will gladly let you in on what happened. Don't worry… or at least not now."

A few seconds later the two found themselves at Rachel's door. Banner knocked loudly once. When no one answered he knocked again even louder. Then a voice coming from the second floor landing said, "Rachel's not here Professor Banner."

The professor looked up to see that the owner of the voice was Eric, one of his other Slifer Red pupils, as he asked, "Where is she?"

The search party had followed Lisa back to the last spot where Caitlin had been seen. From there they continued to follow the trail to see if there were any other paths that the missing Slifer could have taken. When they finally came to a fork in the road, Alexis gasped as she realized where they were. Jaden heard her and asked, "What's wrong?"

"This is the place in my dream…"

Alexis rushed ahead of the group and then stopped in the center of the fork and studied the path. Sure enough there were fresh footprints both human and those belonging to a horse! She turned and motioned for her friends to follow, "This way!"

As they hurried down the path that Alexis knew to be the one where Caitlin's pursuers had chased her, Syrus asked, "Where are we going, Alexis?"

Lisa chimed in, "Yeah, what's the hurry?"

Caitlin fought her captives like a rabid lioness. She used her nails, fists, and the few crude weapons from the earth that were at her disposal such as rocks. She was pretty sure that she had already broken the ninja's nose, so for now he was standing beside the Blue Eyes and Gaia's horse holding covering his nose with one hand and shouting commands at the Celtic Guardian and a dismounted Gaia. Since she didn't have a shield, she had to dodge blades by physically moving out of the way. She was already sporting various bruises from where the ninja had struck her. Gaia and the Celtic Guardian had managed to give her a few wounds with their weapons, but how bad they were she couldn't tell. All she knew at that moment was that she had to keep fighting.

Finally Gaia managed to pin her to the sandstone wall, while the Celtic took a step back waiting for his master's orders. The ninja inquired sharply, "Are you going to be a good girl now and duel me?"

Caitlin narrowed her gaze at him as she shook her head. He approached her with anger radiating from him like heat from a furnace. As he passed the Celtic Guardian, the ninja took the warrior's sword from him and raised the weapon over his head as he prepared to strike.

Alexis treaded down the path in great haste as her companions followed. Syrus felt his stomach churning nervously. Jaden had told him about the dream that Alexis had had. _Does she know precisely what's going to happen to Caitlin? Is she going to end up like Mindy, or even die?_ He shook his head as he tried to banish the horrible thought from his mind.

A moment later an ear-piercing scream rang out through the forest. Alexis broke into a sprint as she cried, "Caitlin!"

Syrus and the others followed in hot pursuit. Time seemed to drag on for Syrus, so there was no telling how long it took them to finally find Caitlin. When they did find her, the shortest member of the group felt his heart almost stop. He ran to her and knelt down by her side as he frantically shook her. "Caitlin, can you hear me? Please wake up!"

He gathered her into his arms as Bastian and Lisa approached and knelt down to examine her wounds. On the left side of her brow there was a gnash about an inch and a half long. A few drops of blood fell from her nose onto her lip making it hard to tell if her lip was bleeding as well or not. The only other noticeable wound was the one on her right side. The wound itself wasn't visible, but her clothing over her side was damp with blood.

Bastian nudged Syrus as he stated, "We need to get her to the clinic fast. Come on we don't have to time to waste!"

Syrus lifted Caitlin and followed the others as they hurried to the clinic. A tears fell blurred his vision as the horrible thought that he might actually loose the girl who had come to mean more to him than any other girl on the face of the earth returned to haunt him. _Please don't die, Caitlin! Please live!_

A/N: Let me know if something doesn't make sense. Thank you, Raymanly73, again for all your help!


	9. Peace of Mind To Be!

Disclaimer: Disclaimer: I do NOT own _Yu-Gi-Oh GX_. I also do not own Caitlin and Lisa, but I am using them with permission.

A/N: Hey, all! Thank you again for those of you who keep encouraging me to continue. I'm sorry that it took me so long to get this posted. I know the last few chapters have been intense, but hopefully these next few chapters will be a little more light-hearted. There's a few people (if I'm not mistaken) that have been wondering when Jaden and Alexis are going to get back together. I can't say exactly what chapter number, but rest assured I am one of those who love happy endings, and I definitely want Jaden and Alexis to have a happy ending, so no worries. They'll eventually get back together, but they've still got some obstacles to overcome first. By the way, you all get chapter 10 as bonus for being so patient, so I hope you all enjoy!

**Chapter 9 – "Peace of Mind to Be!"**

Harrington groaned as he woke up from a long night's rest. He was sore everywhere -- especially his head. Slowly he reached up to rub the spot between his eyes where it was really sore. There was something on his nose that felt like a nose-cast. He got up to look in the mirror that was on the other side of the room, but he found that he could only do so by moving at snail's pace. With every little move he made he felt agonizing pain. _What happened to make me feel this terrible?_ When he reached the mirror, his question was not answered, but rather he had another question. Sure enough there was a nose-cast on his nose. "How did I get this?"

A deep, raspy voice that came from over the fireplace inquired, "You don't remember?"

"Remember what?"

"You lost a fight to a Slifer Red girl."

Harrington's eyes widened in shock as he asked, "Since when was I fist-fighting a Slifer?"

A sinister snicker echoed throughout the room. "You challenged her to a duel and she refused, so of course she needed some persuasion."

"Dude, that is so not cool! When someone refuses to duel you then you are not supposed beat the snot out of them, Slifer slacker or not!"

The voice laughed as though Harrington had told the funniest joke in the world, "And yet you did, Harrington!"

"What?"

"Do you still have the weapons I gave you to defeat your opponents?"

Harrington nodded, "Yeah, I have the new deck and duel disk you gave me, but what do these have to do with ….? Wait a minute! Are you saying that _I _beat up that Slifer girl?"

The memories of what happened started coming back to him. He could see the Slifer Red girl fighting with all that she had and then some. He remembered her shoving the heel of her palm upward towards his face and breaking his nose as her hand made contact with it. When this mental replay of events came to the part where his hand grasped the Celtic Guardian's sword in his own hand, he saw the fear in her eyes. When the sword pierced her flesh he could hear her cry of pain as clear and as loud as if he was standing before her committing the horrible act all over again.

"No… How could I have done that?"

The voice echoed through the room coolly, "I gave you a third item to use against your opponents, boy. Remember?"

Against his chest, Harrington felt a cool piece of metal resting close to his heart. He ran his finger along the outline of the item under his t-shirt and felt a fine chain that was encircled around his neck. Fearfully he pulled the mysterious metallic weight out from under the cotton cloth that had kept it hidden, and saw that it was a gold pendant with a name written in hieroglyphs.

"Do you remember the first girl you dueled?" asked the same voice.

"The first girl I dueled?"

"She was an Obelisk Blue, if I recall correctly."

Although Harrington couldn't see the source of this sinister voice, he mentally bet that if he could then he would see a face with mouth twisted into an evil smile.

"What? I thought you weren't going to bring any of the Obelisk Blue students into this!"

"Now, now, Harrington, our agreement was that I wouldn't harm your precious Alexis."

"Who was the Obelisk Blue student that I dueled?"

"Oh, let's see. She had short brown hair, petite, and she was one of Alexis's friends if memory serves."

Harrington felt his heart sank as he realized who the voice was referring to. "Mindy…"

"After I am free I'll release all of your friends, but for now you'll just have to bear with it."

"They won't be harmed."

"Of course not, dear boy. Mindy is in a deep sleep as we speak. There's nothing to be alarmed about."

Harrington swallowed before he even dared to ask about the Slifer Red girl. The voice replied, "You're worrying too much. Right now you need more rest."

_As a matter of fact more rest does sound good right now._ "It still feels strange that I don't even know your name, bro."

"You'll learn my name soon enough, but for now rest is more important."

---

Zane decided that while he was at the clinic visiting Mindy for the second time that day he would visit the Slifer Red girl that was brought in earlier. _Okay, yes, I'm really going to check up on Syrus._ The top-ranking duelist in the school would never admit this out-loud, but there were times where he was concerned for his younger brother. _And this_ is_ one of those times._

He remembered earlier when Chazz had returned to the Slifer Red dorm and told Professor Banner what had happened to Caitlin. Upon hearing the news of the incident Zane and Banner hurried over to the school clinic. When they had gone in to see how Caitlin was they found Syrus, Jaden, Chumley, Bastian, Alexis, Lisa, and Rachel sitting in the waiting room. Zane would never forget the look on Syrus's face. His younger brother's eyes were red from crying with tears still streaming down his face. His gray eyes looked like the eyes of one who had no hope left. Chumley and Jaden at the time were sitting on either side of him trying to comfort him the best they could. At that moment Zane decided to step out and go down to Mindy's room and see her while he waited for news on how Caitlin was doing.

Later on after he had spent a few hours in Mindy's room, he had heard Jaden, Alexis, Chumley, Banner, Rachel, Bastian and Lisa leave. From the few words spoken between them he could tell that Caitlin was doing better, but she wasn't completely in the clear yet and now they were just waiting for her to wake up.

As Zane approached the doorway of Caitlin's room he silently prayed that Syrus was doing a little better. He peered in through the open door to see Caitlin lying in bed and Syrus was asleep in a chair by her bedside. Zane winced as noticed that his younger brother was sleeping leaning over with his head resting on the bed. The older Truesdale brother approached silently, not wanting to wake Syrus up. He found another chair on the other side of Caitlin's bed that was vacant, so he decided to sit and wait too.

---

When Caitlin awakened the only sound she could hear was the soft sound of someone close to her breathing gently. As she opened her eyes a faint glow from a lamp across the room was all she could see. She groaned as she slowly brought her hand to her aching head. A sharp pain shot through her arm as she did so causing her to quickly drop her arm. A deep voice to her left whispered, "Are you alright? Do you want me to get the nurse?"

She turned her gaze to see who had spoken, and found Zane Truesdale standing over her with a look on his face that she couldn't interpret. She thought she saw a hint of concern, but she wasn't completely sure. Caitlin's encounters with Zane since her first day at Duel Academy were few and far between. Each and every time she had seen him he had usually had an emotionless expression on his face. _Come to think of it have I ever seen him smile?_ "My head hurts, my arm hurts, and well, everything hurts…"

"I'll go get the nurse. She probably has some pain-killers and some other medication for you to take. I'll be right back."

With that, her visitor left her alone in semi-darkness. She lay in her bed trying her best to ignore the pain that was plaguing every inch of her body. With closed eyes she strained her ears to listen to the quiet that surrounded her so she could focus on that instead. Much to her dismay quiet wasn't what met her ears. She heard the sound of gentle breathing coming from her right. _Wait a minute! I thought that was Zane. If that's not him then who is that?_ She opened her eyes and turned her gaze toward the hushed, gentle sound. The source was someone with his head resting on the edge of her bed. She eased her right hand over to his shoulder to wake him without causing herself anymore pain, but failed and instead her hand came down on his head. The poor invalid yelped as pain shot through her arm once again. Caitlin's poor victim woke up as soon as her hand made contact with his noggin. He jumped up from his seat and rubbed his head where her hand had struck him.

A second later the over-head light came on causing Caitlin to squint. "Are you two all right," the school nurse, Miss Andrea, inquired. When Caitlin's eyes became accustomed to the light she faced the nurse and nodded, "I'm in pain just about everywhere and unfortunately, I think I've passed on some of it on to…"

Caitlin turned to see who she had struck. The poor boy that she had hit had been none other than a certain sky blue-haired Slifer with very familiar gray eyes and a pair of glasses resting crookedly on the bridge of his nose. "…Syrus!"

The short boy brought his hand down from the spot where she had hit him. When his eyes met hers he smiled as tears gently trailed down his cheeks. "Caitlin, you're awake! You're all right!"

Caitlin gasped in disbelief over what she had done to her precious Syrus. "I am _so_ sorry, Syrus! I didn't mean to hit you!"

His tears started flow more freely as he smiled at her and responded by throwing his arms around her. He wailed, "I thought I was going to lose you!"

Zane smiled a small smile as he observed, "He feels no pain, Caitlin!"

Nurse Andrea also smiled as she approached her patient with two white tablets and a glass of water. "This should help with the pain, dear."

Syrus released Caitlin as she gladly accepted the pain-killers she was offered. After she had taken the medication she thanked the nurse as well as Zane for fetching Nurse Andrea in Caitlin's time of need. Zane nodded in response and quietly left the room.

The middle-aged nurse gasped as she stated, "Oh, dear! That's right. I need to ask Zane to do a favor for me."

Syrus stated, "I needed to talk to Zane myself, so if you want I'll give him your message."

A few minutes later Syrus was out the door and running like he was chasing down the wind. It didn't take him long to find his brother. Zane had not gone a long way off. In fact the clinic was not even five minutes away when Syrus found his brother on the path that led to the Obelisk Blue dorm. "Zane, wait up!"

The older Truesdale brother stopped and turned to face his younger sibling upon hearing him call on him. He asked Syrus, "What is it?"

"Nurse Andrea wanted me to ask you to go tell Rachel that Caitlin woke up and that she's going to be in the clinic for a few days. She also wants either Rachel or Lisa to bring her assignments by after class tomorrow so Caitlin won't get too far behind."

"Is that all?"

Syrus shifted uncomfortably as he responded, "Well, that's all that the nurse wanted me to ask you to do for her."

"What's wrong?"

"Well," the younger boy started, "it's Caitlin. I was wondering you had any advice on how I should tell her… or if you think that now would be a good time to …"

Zane sighed, "If you haven't told her how you feel about her yet then I suggest you do so. You came real close to missing your chance earlier. Time waits for no one."

Syrus sadly frowned. "But does she…?"

"I say you're worrying over nothing."

"Do you really think so?"

Zane nodded. "Now go tell her."

---

Once he made it back to Caitlin's room, Syrus reclaimed his seat next to her beside. Caitlin's gaze met his as she reached for his hand, "I'm sorry I worried you, Syrus."

"There's no need to apologize. If anyone should be sorry, it should be me."

"Why do you say that?"

The azure-haired boy replied sadly, "I had something to tell you, s-s-something important. I've had many opportunities to tell you, but each time I chickened out. Because I waited so long… I came real close to missing my chance to tell you… I thought about the many ways I could say it, but none of the fancy ways of saying it seemed right."

He blushed as he continued, "So, I'm just going to simply say it… I really, _really_ like you a lot, and I'll even go as far to say that … I love you, Caitlin! When I was bringing you here to the nurse's office the thought that I could have lost you wouldn't go away. You may not feel the same way, and that's…"

He was cut off by a cold index finger pressed against his lips. Caitlin smiled at him as tears of happiness welled up in her eyes. "Who says I don't feel the same way?"

With that, her finger that had been resting against his lips beckoned him to draw closer. Syrus felt his face burn crimson at the gesture, but he didn't turn away. Instead he smiled and did as his lady-love bid him. When their faces were still a few inches apart, Caitlin pulled him close to her and claimed his lips with hers.

---

Bastian and Lisa sat quietly outside Caitlin and Lisa's dorm room gazing at the stars. Bastian didn't know precisely what to say. Lisa had been melancholy for most of the day, since the realization that she may loose her best friend had sunk in. He wished that he had the right words to comfort her, but for the moment all words of comfort and peace of mind escaped him.

"I never should have run off and left her on the trail like that," she said softly, "If I had stayed with her she would probably be sitting here with us right now!"

"Don't blame yourself. You didn't know what would happen."

Lisa turned to him with eyes full of tears. "I knew that the duelist responsible for the attacks was still out there," she replied bitterly.

Her tears started to flow freely down her cheeks as she started to sob. Bastian wrapped his arms around her and drew her to him. She buried her face in his chest while he stroked her hair. It broke his heart to see Lisa like this. He couldn't tell her that everything would be all right especially when he wasn't sure that would be so. When Lisa's sobs subsided, she looked up to see eyes that said as much. Instead of covering it up he gently wiped the tears from her eyes and softly replied, "Outside Duel Academy the chances of coming across someone who wouldn't hesitate to assault an innocent girl is just as likely as it is here. No matter where you go, Lisa, there's always someone out there who won't hesitate to commit such an evil act. We never know when or where such a person will strike. All we can do is take what protective measures we can to defend ourselves and our loved ones. I know that's probably not much comfort, but…"

"It may not be much, but it does help a little. Thank you, Bastian."

With that she embraced him as she tenderly brushed her lips against his cheek. He tightened his hold on her slightly as he relished the feel of her so close to him. Tears glistened in her eyes as she continued, "You're wonderful, Bastian. Have I told you that lately?"

He blushed. "I… I'm …"

Their eyes locked as he took in the beauty he held in his arms. The moonlight cast a silvery light on Lisa's hair and face giving her features a heavenly glow. Her lips were only inches away from his, and they seemed to invite him to close the distance between them. He closed his eyes and claimed her lips in his. For that moment there was no one else in the world but them…

Until they heard someone clear his throat, someone close. Reluctantly the two parted and looked up to see Zane Truesdale standing over them. Both of them blushed as Zane smirked and said, "I hate to break up the love fest, but I thought that you two might want to know that Caitlin woke up about half an hour ago."

This bit of news brought the two lovebirds to their feet quickly. Lisa questioned, "Is she all right? Is she okay? Is Syrus still with her?"

Zane nodded. "Yes, she's fine. She had a few aches and pains when she woke up, but the nurse gave her some medication for it. The nurse sent me to tell you and Rachel that she's fine, but since she's still recovering from those deep wounds Caitlin needs to stay in the clinic for a few days before coming back to class."

Lisa nodded in understanding. "Does she want me to bring Caitlin's schoolwork?"

"I think that's the plan she had in mind."

"I will."

Zane turned toward Rachel's door and then turned back to the couple, "Rachel and Banner aren't in there alone are they?"

Bastian chuckled, "I'm not sure, but I think as long as you knock first you'll be safe."

"That's okay. I'll wait until tomorrow."

Lisa went to her door and opened it. After she turned the light on she beckoned to the two of them to come inside. The two boys did as she bid them. "You won't have to wait if you leave a note on her door," she said as she retrieved a pen and a sheet of paper from her desk.

Zane replied, "That's true."

Once he accepted the pen and paper offered to him he set about writing his message. Once he had finished, Lisa provided him with the scotch tape to attach the message to Rachel's door. When he finished his task he thanked Lisa for her help and turned leave. He hadn't taken more than one step before Lisa called out, "Wait a minute. Since it's getting late why don't you two head back to your dorms together?"

Bastian thought about it for a moment. He really wanted to spend more time with Lisa, but since students had been told to not go anywhere unaccompanied… "Well, that might be best. Tomorrow though don't go for your morning run, and wait for me to come and escort you to class."

Lisa nodded. "That sounds good."

With that Bastian joined Zane their silent walk back toward the Ra Yellow and Obelisk Blue dorms leaving Lisa in the safety of the Slifer Red dorm.

A/N: In the series they mentioned who the school nurse was in season one, but I don't remember her name. All I know is that she was _way_ younger than middle-aged, and she turned out to be one of the monsters in one of the Shadow Riders' deck. So if any of you remember her name then I'll gladly replace Nurse Andrea with the school nurse from the series. Raymanly73, thank you so much for all your help! Thank you Lisa, James, and William for all your help as well! Thank you all who reviewed and kept encouraging me to get back to this. Again I apologize for the delay in getting this posted. Until next update, peace out and God bless!


	10. Still Holding On To You

Do You Really Love Me?

Disclaimer: I do NOT own _Yu-Gi-Oh GX_! Love it, but don't own it. I also don't own the characters Lisa and Caitlin, but I am using them WITH permission.

A/N: Here's a little bonus for those of you who waited so long for an update. Enjoy!

**Chapter 10 – Still Holding On To You**

_Later that same night…_

After a long talk with Professor Banner over the dream Alexis had, Jaden offered to escort her back to the Obelisk Blue girls' dorm. For most of the way they walked silently hand in hand. Alexis's thoughts drifted back to what Banner had told them about the card from her dream as she unknowingly slowed her pace with each step.

_This card sounds very familiar, but I can not place it, Alexis. If it is the card I'm thinking of, then it is very real. But don't worry! It has probably been sealed away. And not all dreams we have come to pass._ He had tried to appear as though there was nothing to worry about for her sake if not for Jaden's and Rachel's as well. She knew the good professor meant well, but she wished that he had shared everything that he knew about the card with them. She knew what the card was capable of and that scared her, but what scared her even more was the unknown.

Upon hearing Banner's words Jaden had seemed thoughtful, but not concerned. What her professor had said about the possibility that her dream may not come true was very likely, but after seeing her dream foretelling Caitlin's peril earlier that morning come true, she wasn't sure if she should dismiss her dream of Jaden's demise as easily as her instructor had done. She cast a glance at her escort out of the corner of her eye. Was he worried about the possibility of her dream coming true at _all_?

"'Lex, is everything all right? You seem to have something on your mind," Jaden verbally noted, breaking her train of thought.

The two stopped in the middle of the moonlit path allowing Alexis to turn her full attention to Jaden. His eyes filled with concern met her gaze as she bit her lip, not sure where to start. "Are you still worried about your dream coming true?"

She nodded. "Aren't you worried about it, Jaden?"

"I don't know… Maybe a little, but I just figure that I'll cross that bridge when I come to it."

"If my dream comes true then your life is on the line! You need to …"

Her voice trailed off as Jaden asked, "I need to what?"

Tears welled up in Alexis's eyes as she fought to hold them back, "You …just seem so calm… It's like you don't even care!"

It was then she started to sob. Jaden drew her into his warm embrace. "Alexis," he whispered gently in her ear, "I do care. We've already asked Professor Banner about the card and he's told us that he'll find out what information he can. What more do you want me to do?"

Her voice broke as she replied, "I don't know! I just want you to be safe."

"I'll take whatever precautions I can, 'Lex, but if my time to die does come soon, then I won't be able to stop it. I don't believe I'll die from a duel though," he responded with a grin.

Alexis looked into his eyes with tears still streaming down her face. "How can you be so sure?"

"First of all, Banner's right: your dream may not even come true. Our dreams sometimes show us what we're afraid of, and not necessarily the future. And secondly, I'm not sure, because there is no guarantee that I'll live to see a ripe old age. Death is the inevitable, but you shouldn't fear it or worry about it, because worrying isn't going to add an hour to anyone's life."

Alexis wiped the tears from her face as she pondered Jaden's words. _He's right._ "I don't want to lose you to that creep from my dream or to anybody! My dream _could_ very well mean that I am scared of losing you."

Jaden's confident grin turned into a small smile. "I hope it never comes to the point where you and I will ever have to do without one another. I wouldn't want to ever lose you either. I love you, Alexis."

For a few moments she lost herself in Jaden's eyes and saw the words he had spoken were mirrored there. He drew nearer to her and closed the distance between them and pressed his lips to hers. Alexis closed her eyes as she enjoyed the rich sweetness she found in his kiss. She wrapped her arms around him and deepened the kiss. When at last they parted for air she whispered, "I still love you, Jaden."

All the two of them could do was gaze into each others' eyes until Jaden found his voice once again. "Are you saying that you want to get back together?"

"I'm saying that 'I still love you'. I do want to get back together, but I want to make sure that it's for the right reasons and not because of my emotions."

Jaden sighed with slight sadness in his voice, "Alright, 'Lex."

The two of them turned and started heading down the path once again. Alexis felt terrible! "Jaden, I'm sorry…"

He stopped in his tracks as he turned to her once again. The sadness in his voice was still there as he spoke, but there was also understanding as he replied, "Don't worry about it. I said that we would do this on your terms and I meant it."

With that said Alexis felt a little better, but not by much. Jaden seemed to sense this as he continued, "Don't worry. If we have to continue on like this for a year or two or even longer then that's what we'll do. I want you to be sure of my love."

Alexis embraced him as she replied, "Thank you for being so patient. I don't think it will take more than a year though."

"Will you let me know when you are ready to get back together?"

"Yes, I will."

He smiled at her response. She kissed him again before they started back down the path hand-in-hand with both their hearts a bit lighter than before.

At 3:00 in the morning Rachel was lying in her bed listening to the hum of her ceiling fan hoping that sleep would come. She was exhausted but it seemed that all she could do was toss and turn. She sat up as she reached for Pharaoh to find that he wasn't there beside her. _Oh, yeah, he's with the professor. Oh, no! Don't tell me I'm starting to miss the fuzz-ball!_

She got up and turned her beside lamp on, and then proceeded to slip on a pair of slippers that were on loan to her from Banner until he got a chance to buy her another pair. A chill from the cold wind produced by the fan made her shiver, since her night-gown was a thin silky garment that came down to her ankles with a low-cut neckline, and spaghetti straps hugging her shoulders. She wrapped a fleece throw blanket around her as she headed for the door to see if Banner was still up.

Once she reached his door, she saw the light on in his window. She knocked but there was no answer. _That's odd_, she thought. Her hand reached for the door knob and found the door unlocked, so she let herself in.

When she entered the doorway though, she wasn't in Banner's room but in a beautiful ballroom with huge windows and candles everywhere. There were beautiful paintings of angels and cherubim on the ceiling and a huge chandelier hanging over the center of the room. Banner stood there close to the entry dressed in an outfit fit for a king! He wore a blue and gold dress coat over a white shirt, black trousers trimmed with gold running down the pants leg, and black boots. He offered her his hand as he asked, "Rachel, darling, shall we dance?"

All she could do to respond was nod. She blushed as she thought to herself, I'm wearing a night gown and he's dressed in… Before they made it onto the dance floor she caught a glance at herself in a mirror at the entry way and she found she was not wearing a night gown at all! Instead she was wearing a gold strapless dress with her red-gold curls piled on top of her head.

Banner drew her close to him as he whispered in her ear, "You look beautiful!"

He gently kissed her forehead as she savored his touch. "Thank you, Professor!"

"No, my dear! It's not 'professor,' but Lyman."

Rachel smiled as she tried the name, "Lyman!"

_He's asked me to call him by his first name! Is this really happening? If this is a dream I never want to wake up!_

Soft music began to play as he bowed to her. In turn she curtsied as he took her hand in his and his right hand came to rest on her waist. When the song came to an end Banner spun her into his embrace as the lights dimmed and finally went out and the stars twinkled at them through the huge windows, but neither of the two noticed. The only thing that seemed to exist in the whole universe was them. Rachel whispered Banner's name as he gently kissed her lips.

A loud beeping noise caused Rachel to sit straight up in bed. She turned the alarm off with a frustrated sigh. _It _was_ a dream! Rats!_

Banner reached for Rachel and kissed her passionately as he pulled her fleece throw off her shoulders. Her arms found their way around his neck while her long, slender fingers unbound his dark hair. She shivered a little, so she drew closer to him. In response his arms snaked around her slender body. He tenderly kissed her face and worked his way back to her lips. Once he found her lips she responded with a heated passion. They continued until their lungs started to burn for air. One of Rachel's straps on her night gown slipped off her shoulder. He wanted to kiss every inch of her soft white skin. She cast him a gaze he couldn't fully interpret, but she seemed to be inviting him to do just that. His hands were fully aware of her bare back as he kissed her mouth once again and moved down her neck. He could feel her heartbeat against his bare chest and her breath on his neck. She hugged him to her tighter as she started whispering over and over, "Banner!"

"Banner! Professor! Wake up!"

After Rachel yelled in his ear he fell out of his chair and landed on his side. As he rubbed his aching hip, Banner looked around and realized he had fallen asleep at his desk while researching the card Alexis had seen in her dream. He sighed as he looked up into Rachel's concerned face. "Um, Professor, are you okay? You seemed to be having a dream of some kind."

He blushed as he nodded in response. The muscles in his back tensed up as he admitted, "I did have a dream."

"A good dream?"

"That's putting it mildly, but yes."

"Well, you've got class in an hour, so you'd better get ready."

He nervously nodded and thanked her. She looked beautiful in her sleeveless white dress and her fiery red curls creeping over her shoulders! _If only she was allowed to wear her night gown to class…_

"Professor, are you okay?"

He had been staring and he hadn't even realized it! "Yes, Rachel, I'll be there shortly."

"If you want I'll teach class today," she said with concern still in her emerald green eyes.

He smiled at her as he mentally tried to pull himself together. "No, I'll do it. Thank you though, Rachel."

She nodded as she turned to go. Before she could open the door he got up from his place on the floor and called after her, "Rachel, we'll talk later?"

The beautiful red-head smiled brightly back at him and nodded as she let herself out.

For a few minutes he contemplated whether or not he should share his dream with her not. _No, I shouldn't even think about the dream_, he thought. _If I really love her then I mustn't dwell on such fantasies unless she feels the same way. And that's only if she ever does come to love me._

With that he pushed all thoughts of his heated dream out of his mind and prepared for the rest of his day.

A/N: There you have it: an update on Alexis's and Jaden's relationship and how far it is on the mend as well as a peek into Rachel's and Banner's dreams. Yeah, I know Alexis and Jaden haven't hardly moved anywhere in getting back together. They will get back together. Jaden still hasn't quite had a chance to prove that Alexis is his number one priority yet. He will though. At least they're sharing some tender moments and working towards it. I loved making poor Banner squirm when Rachel asked whether his dream was a good one. Aren't I evil? Thank you all who reviewed and even those of you who didn't. If you think Banner's dream needs to be toned down heat-wise, then let me know. I was aiming to keep it PG to PG-13. Thank you, Raymanly73! You're awesome! Thank you Lisa, James, and Will for your help as well. 'Til next time everyone, peace out, and God bless!


	11. Mysterious Cards & Legends of Old

Do You Really Love Me?

Disclaimer: I do NOT own _Yu-Gi-Oh GX_! Love it, but don't own it. I also don't own the characters Lisa and Caitlin, but I am using them WITH permission.

A/N: On the 16th of this month this fic turned two years old. I'm going to have to do something special soon. No, I haven't died. Sorry about the long wait, but it's I think it was a good thing that I took my time on this one. I was planning on doing something completely different with this chapter, but the characters and the story in general took over. Happy reading everyone!

**Chapter 11 - Mysterious Cards and Legends of Old**

Rachel sat through Banner's lecture at a desk close to the podium where he was standing as he delivered his lesson. She wasn't paying attention to the lesson, but rather doodling in her notebook and wondering about what it was that Banner wanted to talk to her about. _Maybe he found the information on the card Alexis had seen in her dream. No, that can't be it. If he had then he would have said so in the first place!_ As she continued to go down her mental check-list of all the things Banner could wish to talk with her about, she realized that he may not have been able to find anything on the card at all. If that was the case, then what would they do?

Banner's words to Alexis last night came back to her, "There's a possibility that this card may not exist." Rachel had seen the look in his eyes when he had said that. He may have been able to fool Alexis and Jaden into thinking that he was skeptical of the card's existence, but he had not fooled Rachel for one second. There had been fear in his eyes. _He _has_ heard of the card before, and he knows it exists…_

A ringing snapped Rachel back to reality. It took a few seconds to realize that it was the phone in Professor Banner's office. Before he could move to answer, Rachel rose from her seat and exited the room, motioning to him on her way out that he could stay put. She raced down the hall to the office and seized the phone from the receiver. The voice that met her ears was the sickening sound of a young woman with an overly excited voice screaming that Rachel and her "significant other" had been chosen randomly to go on an all-expense paid vacation to the Bahamas. At first Rachel didn't know what to do, and then an idea came to her as smiled mischievously and responded, "Qué? No quiero una 'baka'! Qué es 'baka'?"

With that she hung up quickly and turned to leave, satisfied that she escaped another telemarketer. Before she made it out the door, however, the phone rang once again. Rachel's smile turned upside down as she let out an exasperated sigh. She swiped the phone from its resting place and sharply said, "Look! We're _not_ interested!"

For a moment there was no sound except for the sound of low breathing on the other end of the line. Rachel prompted the mysterious caller, "Hello?"

"Tell Jaden his time is slipping away. Just two more before he and I meet," responded a deep, sinister voice.

"Who are you? What do you want with Jaden? Two more what?"

The only answer she received was the sound of the dial-tone.

* * *

"Alright, class, make sure you read chapter 12 tonight for homework," Professor Banner said as he was about to dismiss the class.

While the students were packing up their belongings in preparation to go to their next class, Rachel came running into the classroom calling, "Jaden!"

The top ranking Slifer rose from his seat and directed his attention to his professor's TA. She motioned for him and Banner to follow her to the office in hurried hand-gestures.

Syrus started to follow his best friend as he moved towards the front, but Jaden turned to him and told him to go ahead on to their next class and save him a seat. Once he and Banner had reached Rachel, she firmly grasped a wrist in each of her hands and led them to the privacy of the professor's office.

* * *

Professor Banner sat behind his desk while Jaden occupied the seat opposite him. Rachel stood near the end of the desk with worry etched on her face. She took a deep breath and then recounted what had happened not too along ago over the phone with the mysterious caller. She brought her gaze to meet Jaden's when she repeated the message the unknown caller had commanded her to give him. Jaden frowned. "Two more… Do you think he means two more students?"

Banner solemnly answered, "I don't think it will be just any two students. He probably means two more _female_ students."

"What makes you think it will be two girls?"

Rachel responded, "The caller was probably the same duelist that attacked Mindy and Caitlin."

Banner continued, "Caitlin was supposed to be the second sacrifice."

When Rachel and Jaden had turned their shocked gaze to meet his, Banner nodded gravely. "Yes, I know what our mystery duelist is trying to do."

"Thousands of years ago an Egyptian sorcerer delved too deep into the dark arts in hopes of taking over the world. He was among the first few to try doing so by using Duel Monsters. Fortunately the Pharaoh during that time defeated him in a long duel. The sorcerer was tried for treason against Egypt. He was sentenced to be beheaded and his body burned until it was nothing but ashes. The Pharaoh ordered that his remains be sealed in an urn with no indication of rank or name to adorn the vessel."

"He then ordered that the sorcerer's ashes not be buried in any Egyptian tomb, much less in Egyptian soil. A steward in the Pharaoh's household volunteered to take the urn wherever the Pharaoh wished. With this said the Pharaoh bid the steward to take the urn as far from Egypt as the steward's life would allow."

"No one knows for sure where the steward eventually buried the urn, but there have been recent archaeological finds to indicate that he made it all the way here, to this island."

"He traveled all the way here?" Jaden asked in wide-eyed surprise.

"That's what some believe. The finds of an excavation from the early 1900's are what led many to believe that the steward was actually one of the sorcerer's followers."

"What?"

"The archaeologists found a tomb with a simple urn on a pillar with a name carved on the side with a knife, and on the walls were instructions left in hieroglyphs to bring back 'the one who was to remain nameless.' Among the instructions was an incantation the 'new steward' is supposed to recite when the most prized duel monsters and the life force of three maidens are offered to bring back the sorcerer in mind, body, and spirit."

Rachel breathed in sharply. "The card Alexis saw in her dream… Professor, does that have something to do with this ritual?"

Banner met her worried gaze. "I'm not entirely sure. According to legend the sorcerer is to duel someone who will dubbed the 'new pharaoh' if he is revived. If this new pharaoh wins then of course he'll be defeated, but if he loses then the sorcerer will be free to finish what he set out to do over a millennia ago."

Jaden stated, "Hopefully whoever made the phone call earlier just _thinks_ the legend is real."

Banner turned to his student, "Regardless whether the legend is real or not, he thinks it _is_. Jaden, you're going to have to be on your guard and watch out not just for yourself but for your schoolmates as well. I'll tell Chancellor Shepherd so he can alert the remaining staff and students this mysterious duelist is still out there."

Jaden nodded as he turned to go. Before he made it out the door he turned back to his professor, "You're not going to tell them about the legend are you?"

"No. Right now that's not important. We don't even know for sure that is a part of what's going on. That was an educated guess on my part."

Rachel scribbled a note on a spare sheet of paper and handed it to Jaden. "This should get your next teacher to excuse your being tardy. Run along to class."

Jaden nodded his thanks and left the office.

* * *

Caitlin lay in her bed in the clinic wide-awake and bored stiff. _Man, I wouldn't mind being in class right now! Yeah, sure, I'm not too fond of school, but at least I'd have something to do besides lay on my back and stare at the ceiling!_

"Hi, Caitlin!" called Lisa's voice from the doorway.

She looked over towards the door and sure enough her best friend was standing there with an armload of books. "Lisa, am I glad to see you!"

Caitlin motioned to the chair by her bedside as she brightly inquired, "How are you? How was class?"

She winced when she noticed the tall stack of books and papers in Lisa's arms. "Dr. Crowler's not intent on drowning me in homework for his class, is he?"

Lisa couldn't help but giggle a little as she shook her head. "Dr. Crowler only sent a third of this. The rest is math, a.k.a. algebra, and homework from Professor Banner's class."

Caitlin raised an eyebrow and looked the stack over from top to bottom once again. "How much of the remaining two thirds are from Professor Banner?"

"More than three quarters of the remaining two thirds is from him," replied Lisa as she sat the stack on the night stand beside Caitlin's bed. She smiled before playfully adding, "Remember when fractions used to be the hardest thing for you to master, Caitlin?"

The invalid's eyes widened as her frown turned into a smile. "Oh, please! Fractions used to be your worst enemy too!"

Lisa closed her eyes and sighed dreamily. "Yeah, too bad we didn't know Bastian back then. He could have tutored us."

Caitlin raised an eyebrow as she noticed lovey-dovey look on her friend's face. Then her expression changed to one of playfulness as she gently teased, "Did something happen between you two recently you want to share?"

"Well, um... That is…" Lisa face flushed as she stuttered with a big smile on her face. She stopped and collected her thoughts before she continued with the same grin on her face. "Well, he did comfort me last night…"

At the mention of last night her smile turned to a slight frown. Caitlin reached for her hand as she said, "I'm sorry for making you worry, Lisa."

"If anyone should be sorry, it's me. I shouldn't have left you on the path like that. You didn't know the path that well and I knew that jerk that attacked Mindy was still out there. I wish there was a way to make it up to you!"

"Lisa," Caitlin began with a scowl on her face that gave away the fact she was indeed feigning unforgiveness, "if you want to make it up to me then tell me what happened between you and Bastian!"

Her friend couldn't help but laugh as she pulled the chair behind her closer to the bedside with her free hand and she fought back tears of joy and relief that were welling up in her eyes. For the next couple of hours the girls chatted about each other's romances. For the moment they were safe and sound.

* * *

Meanwhile, Alexis had wandered all over campus in search of Jaden. Ever since the little meeting he had had with Professor Banner and Rachel earlier he had been quiet, too quiet. The two of them had sat with Bastian, Syrus, Lisa, Jasmine, Chazz, and Chumley at lunch and he had spaced in and out of the conversations the group had taken part. When she, Syrus, or anyone else had tried to ask about what Rachel had been so frantic about earlier that morning, he looked at each one of them with a look of uncertainty, as though he was thinking about whether or not he should tell them, and then he would just smile and say as long as no one wandered off alone then everything should be alright. His _voice still sounded unsure though!_

After lunch Chancellor Shepherd gave an announcement over the intercom that the mysterious duelist had contacted the school earlier that morning and that this attacker was still at large. He continued to inform students and staff alike that no one was to go anywhere on the island unaccompanied should attacker strike again. _Jaden knows more! Banner and Rachel must have found out something else…_

When she came to the beach that was below the cliff that the Slifer Red dorm was perched on she found Jaden sitting close to the water's edge _unaccompanied_! The beautiful blonde exclaimed, "Weren't you the one who said that as long as no wandered off alone then everything should be alright?"

Jaden looked up at her and sheepishly grinned. Alexis quickly made her way down the path that led down to where Jaden's current thoughtful spot. When she reached him she took off her shoes and socks so she could let the water cool her feet.

"Are your feet sore?"

Alexis nodded with a frown on her face. "I looked everywhere for you! And you wandered off not only after _you_ said it wasn't a good idea to go anywhere alone, but even after _Chancellor Shepherd_ said not go anywhere without at least one other person with you at all times…"

"I'm sorry, Alexis. You're right. I should have waited and come down here with you!"

"This is serious! This kind of behavior is what makes me think that you truly don't care whether you live or die!"

Her narrowed gaze held tears of frustration that were about to fall. Jaden turned to her with eyes that were void of mirth as drew her close to him and looked directly into her hazel orbs, "Trust me, Lex, I know how serious it is. It's more serious than you know."

Her gaze softened a bit. "How much more serious?"

"All I'm going to say right now is that the guy that attacked Mindy and Caitlin is planning on attacking at least two more students. Professor Banner thinks the guy will attack two girls."

"What makes him think …?"

"Rachel got a phone call from him this morning."

Alexis gave him a questioning look as she simply asked, "She what?"

Jaden told her everything about the legend Banner had spoken of and then told Alexis precisely the message the mystery duelist instructed Rachel to give to him. Alexis's head came to rest sorrowfully on Jaden's shoulder. New tears trailed down her face. "Jaden, don't duel him! Please… Even if he doesn't have that card I have a feeling this whole thing won't end well."

"He's already made two attacks. I don't think he'll strike again anytime soon. He's got the whole school on the lookout for him. So hopefully I won't have to."

"I agree with Jaden," said Lisa, "especially since Caitlin beat the crap out of him when he attacked her!"

The couple looked up to see their fellow Slifer Red classmate approaching them with Syrus and Chumley following not too far behind. Jaden raised an eyebrow at this. "Really?"

Lisa replied, "Well, she told me she gave him a few blows to the head _and_ that she even broke his nose."

Alexis frowned. "But he still did the most damage to _her_."

Lisa nodded. "She probably would have dealt more damage to him if he hadn't had help from two guys dressed as Swift Gaia and Celtic Guardian and a life-like Blue Eyes White Dragon."

Everyone looked at their classmate as though she had sprouted another head. She responded, "I know! It's strange. She said that she couldn't tell who these people were really because the outfits were really well done right down to the smallest detail. According to her the Celtic Guardian and Gaia never spoke. The only one who did was the ninja."

Syrus inquired, "Did she see the ninja's face?"

"Nope."

Alexis question Lisa further, "Has she told Chancellor Shepherd or any of the members of the faculty about this?"

"Not yet. She asked me to tell Professor Banner or Rachel when I got the chance."

Jaden rose from his seat and offered a hand to help Alexis up as he said, "Well let's go tell them then. Everyone needs to know that this mystery duelist isn't working alone."

A/N: Thank you, Caitlin for your awesome editing skills! And thank you those of you who gave several suggestions as far as plot goes as well as advice where the upcoming duel is concerned. Sorry again about the long wait for an update folks. --' I've been swamped with work, school, and real life so bad it's not even funny. I thought I'd have time during the holidays to update but that didn't happen. If I rewrite a chapter after this story is completed this will probably be the one. I'm not entirely satisfied with it. In the next few chapters the fluff will probably be not be as plentiful but the intensity of the situation shall more than likely rise. So stay tuned.


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